Transfiguration Trouble
by Balthanon
Summary: When Harry loses the Sword of Gryffindor in the Chamber of Secrets, only a firm desire to at least make it through to his first kiss, a generous helping of accidental magic, and a healthy dose of phoenix tears let him survive. Unfortunately, it also leaves him with a blind basilisk, an incensed Ginny, and answers that make him wish Lockhart was still around to Obliviate him.
1. Chapter 1

Harry stared at the silver sword that had fallen into his hand and scrambled to his feet. He had never used a sword in his life, but he had dim memories of swinging a stick around like a knight when he was a child with Dudley. Before his Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had caught them at it and punished the both of them. Swords being one half of 'Swords and Sorcery', of course, and thus having the chance of corrupting their precious Dudders.

In future games of pretend, Harry wouldn't be allowed a sword, but he had nonetheless gotten a lot of practice in dodging. That served him well as Riddle's screams urging the basilisk to leave Fawkes alone and kill him finally got the massive snake turned about and headed in his direction.

He managed to evade the first attack entirely, the basilisk being a bit off center, and heard the beast crash into the wall head first. But it was coming straight at him for the second; tempted for a minute to simply stand his ground and let the thing impale itself, he finally dodged to one side, swinging his sword as he remembered doing so long ago.

The weapon clanged as it struck the serpent's teeth and the force of the blow nearly wrenched the ruby-crusted pommel from his hands. When he managed to hold on the attack instead threw him out of the coils of the basilisk entirely, the only noticeable damage a severed fang that fell to the ground moments later.

Not waiting for the feeling to come back to his arms, Harry scrambled to his feet and ran forward with an overhand blow from the weapon. The sword, however, hit the scales of the basilisk and simply bounced off with a ringing noise like a bell.

This elicited laughter from Riddle, but it only delayed his next command by a few moments. "You see, he is harmless, kill him! Finish the boy now!"

The basilisk still appeared reluctant to approach Harry, but this did not, unfortunately, prevent it from attacking and a sweep of the thing's tail swept the boy wizard into a wall, leaving him gasping for breath with the sword nearly ten feet away. A forked tongue tested the air once more and the serpent seemed satisfied, diving at Harry abruptly.

Time seemed to slow for a moment and Harry's eyes squeezed shut involuntarily. He couldn't watch as the massive maw of the basilisk approached. He had come so close and now he was going to die with Riddle still alive, Ginny dying, Ron trapped in the other room, Hermione petrified... He had only had two years where he had really lived. He would never have a family of his own. Heck, he had never even kissed a girl!

The last struck him as a bit silly for a last thought, but as he felt the impact of the basilisk and prepared for the painful contraction of the jaws it stuck in his mind for some reason. It was only when he felt something soft press into his lips and a distinct lack of painful, piercing wounds that his eyes popped open though.

Sight did little to alleviate his confusion, as the massive, 40 ft long serpent had simply vanished. Instead, a petite girl of about his age was laying on top of him, her mouth locked on his and her tongue making a determined attempt to push through his clenched lips. Her... slightly forked tongue...

Pushing back against the girl's shoulders, he managed to push her away, though she never opened her eyes and made a plaintive hissing sound (that he interpreted as, "But that was fun,") and promptly followed up by squirming in his grasp and reaching for him again. Taking a closer look, he found that there were a couple other facts that hadn't quite registered. Her hair was a dark green, for instance, and almost as wild as his own, though a fair bit longer. Her eyes were still closed, despite the fact that they were no longer kissing and it almost looked like she had been crying blood. Oh, and she was completely naked.

It was the cute little fang that she displayed on the right side of her mouth as she opened her mouth to complain (and apparently taste the air) that finally convinced him that he was dealing with the basilisk that had just been attacking him though. Mainly because the other, which he had just cut off of the "king" of serpents moments ago, was also missing on the girl.

Luckily, he wasn't the only one to be confused, because Riddle was actually standing slack jawed. Though as Harry focused upon him, he appeared to seize control of himself. "What have you done to my basilisk, Potter? How have you done it? You will tell me before you d-"

An abrupt caw interrupted the shade of Voldemort and Harry glanced over at a scarlet and gold blur near where he had first attacked the basilisk. Who he was still trying to keep at arms length. Pushing away from her, he staggered to his feet and then swayed, almost falling as dizziness made the room spin. He felt for his glasses and was a bit surprised to find them on his face, as the room blurred and re-focused.

He had taken a few hard falls in Quidditch and had never felt like this, but he staggered forward towards what he assumed was Fawkes until a blast of blue light exploded next to him. The force of it threw him forward and he tumbled across the floor until he was only a few feet away from his objective.

"It appears my pet did its duty after all, Harry Potter. You are already dead. I can see the poison coursing through your veins." Riddle had appeared, a dark shadow against the light of the torches to Harry's vision until it focused again and he could see the cruel smirk on the older boy's face. "A poisoned kiss. Elegant and deadly. I am sure I shall find a use for it after I leave this place and your rotting corpses."

Harry looked away from the prefect's face and his eyes fell on Fawkes... and the diary and fang that the phoenix was sitting beside.

Forcing a calm expression, he said, "You won't be leaving this chamber, Tom. You fail at every turn. I've seen it before. If the adult you couldn't manage to kill me, I'm certainly not going to let this stop me." Harry lifted himself to his hands and knees, then stared up at Riddle defiantly. The stubborn gesture and insult elicited the same burst of rage as before and he pointed Harry's own wand at him. As soon as his attention was completed focused upon Harry, however, Fawkes burst into a flurry of motion, flying directly at Riddle- and more importantly his wand.

Even as the phoenix was grappling for the wooden stick, Harry was scrambling across the floor, fighting the weakness in his limbs just long enough to fall to the ground where Fawkes had started. Grasping the diary, he cast around for the fang, only to have it presented to him a moment later by the girl, or rather the basilisk.

Not pausing to question as a bolt of red magic slammed into the ground only a few feet away, he grasped the fang and plunged it into the diary. Riddle and the diary itself screamed, ink spurting out of the book. A small sense of satisfaction passed through him as Harry let the fang and diary drop from fingers he could no longer feel.

Blackness began to blot away the concerned expression of the odd girl and a brief flash of scarlet, then the pain and darkness began to recede and he noticed Fawkes above him, pearly tears dripping from the raptor's cheek to fall into his mouth.

"Fawkes?" he asked weakly, wondering what was going on. However, he had only a moment to think about this, as Fawkes was batted away with surprising strength and he heard a serpentine hiss that translated into, "Yay, we won!" Followed promptly by another kiss that he wasn't strong enough to fight.

When he woke the second time, the hiss was a more territorial "Mine!" as an angry looking phoenix was pushed away after having cried a few more tears and Harry once again found himself literally being kissed to within an inch of his life.

As this went back and forth several times, Harry finally started to feel strength returning to his limbs despite the repeated poisoning when he was put back into a lip lock for the last time and Fawkes gave a disgruntled cry and flew away towards Ginny, apparently giving up on fighting the basilisk.

For a moment, Harry felt despair, but the lack of darkness, blurred vision, and renewed weakness let him hope that he would survive despite Fawkes having apparently been successfully kicked out of the "Let's Lay on Harry" club. It almost made this a bit pleasant, in fact, but he finally pushed away the basilisk- who promptly latched on to his arm.

Deciding it wasn't worth trying to fight her off again, he let her pull him to his feet and was a bit grateful for the support as he made his way to Ginny. Who he noticed was up now and apparently had been for a little while. Her expression was an odd mix of fear, sadness, and something else which almost looked like anger, though that appeared to be mainly when she was staring at the girl latched on to his arm.

She finally drew a deep breath and said, more composed than she probably would have been a few minutes ago, "Harry, I tried to tell you at breakfast, but just couldn't say it in front of Percy. I swear I didn't mean to, but it was all me this year. I mean, not me alone, there was a boy named Riddle and he forced me to... forced me to..."

Harry interupted, holding up the damaged diary. "It's okay, Ginny. I know, Riddle told me everything and he's gone along with the basilisk. Well, kind of, I think."

Ginny blinked and looked around the chamber, finally taking in the damage done to the walls. "Really? Did you and, umm, your... friend... chase it off?" A dark blush suffused her cheeks at this and Harry had a sinking feeling that she had seen quite a bit more of the basilisk and him than he might have wanted.

Rubbing the back of his head, Harry sheepishly said, "Umm, not exactly, but I'd rather explain... that... when we get back up to the school I think."

This appeared to promptly remind Ginny of her predicament and while she retained enough composure not to burst into tears, she sniffled a bit as Harry, she, and the basilisk made their way to the Chamber entrance. "I'm going to be expelled, aren't I?" she asked, "I've wanted to come to Hogwarts since Bill came and I won't be allowed to stay now."

This comment finally prompted a response from the basilisk, who smiled widely and said, "Good, less competition. The jealous one can stay away and there will be more kisses for me."

As this statement was made in Parseltongue, Harry was more than a bit surprised when Ginny gasped and swung around him to confront the girl on his left. "That is so mean! Who are you even?" Her tears appeared to be abruptly forgotten and she stared as the basilisk with a challenging glare.

Harry thanked the stars that he was feeling more steady now, because the transfigured basilisk took the opportunity to slip behind him and hide from Ginny before poking her head over his shoulder and sticking her tongue out at the girl.

"You can't command me anymore, the new Master will protect me." She appeared to try and blow a raspberry, but it didn't quite work with her tongue and came out more as an offended hiss, devoid of any real meaning. "I won't listen even if you use the True Tongue!"

"True Tongue? What are you tal- king a- bout..." Ginny trailed off to stare at the face which was glaring back at her and Harry assumed her focus was upon the tongue he could feel tickling at his earlobe as the basilisk hissed back.

Glancing back at the basilisk reminded him that the girl beside him was stark naked and he quickly pulled off his outer robes and threw them at her. This appeared to baffle her and he was forced to help her put them on before turning back to Ron's little sister.

"Ginny?" Harry asked, getting worried since the staring into space had gone on for at least a minute or two. "Ginny, I can explain." He paused. "Well, no, I can't really, but I can tell you what happened... why don't we just, umm, get out of here first. We can talk about it with Ron and everyone else and then if you want, you can ask me any questions you want. Either with everyone or privately, it's up to you."

A bit of gentle shoving eventually got the now unresponsive Weasley moving again, but it only lasted a short while until she abruptly planted her feet again as they passed through the entrance and it closed with a hiss. "Harry, please tell me that we haven't been speaking in Parseltongue."

Feeling that Ginny was on the verge of tears again, Harry considered the question carefully and said, "You and I are not speaking Parseltongue."

"And... her?" Ginny waved at the basilisk still attached to Harry, which made her stick out her tongue again and prompted a small shudder from the First Year. Unfortunately, the transfigured girl also didn't let Harry answer for her.

"Of course I'm speaking the True Tongue. You're awfully dumb for a former Heir."

Ginny slumped gloomily, but started walking on her own to Harry's relief, albeit with one hand having a light hold on his sleeve. "Disowned and expelled. Harry, can I live with you when my family finds out I'm a dark wizard who speaks Parseltongue?"

"They won't do that, Ginny," Harry reassured her as they finally saw the end of the corridor materialize out of the gloom. "Just wait and see. Besides, you haven't actually spoken it yet, right?" This didn't appear to make Ginny feel any better, so he began to increase his pace. He nearly fell flat on his back as he felt a tug on not only his left arm, but his right as well, though. Glancing at both girls now latched on to his arms, he suspected this was going to be a touch... challenging to explain.

* * *

Sitting in McGonagall's office later, Harry thought that challenging might have been understating it. Ron had bought the same excuse that he had presented to Ginny of only wanting to explain things once, but that had fallen apart when Myrtle had attempted to join his "harem" (her word, not his) and had promptly been frightened off by the basilisk hissing at her.

Arriving in McGonagal's office had been about what he had expected, Ginny's tears had finally escaped for awhile and he used that time to explain what had happened prior to entering the Chamber of Secrets. By the time he actually finished with that, she had once again gotten control of herself, which he thought was rather brave. Or perhaps just a response to the occasional condescending looks (so to speak) from the basilisk, which he tried to put a stop to with a few stern looks of his own that didn't do much of anything.

The confrontational attitude between the two had left Molly a little torn- the basilisk appeared at first glance to be a young girl no older than her own daughter and appearing even worse for the wear given the blood on her face and the fact that she hadn't spoken. However, there was definitely some animosity between the two.

And when he had finally coaxed a name out of the transfigured girl, whispered into his ear, his exclamation of "Guinevere?" had made it impossible to take that back. Ginny seemed to take this as yet another challenge and when Dumbledore had suggested a trip to the hospital wing had actually put up a fight about leaving. Particularly as he had yet to actually get to the real story of how she had turned up in the Chamber of Secrets- Ginny had seen enough to know that he had glossed over rather a lot.

It wasn't until Harry promised to visit her there as soon as possible that she finally acquiesced to her parents demands and left quietly, followed shortly after by McGonagal. The latter was also giving him knowing looks and he suspected more pointed questions would follow there as well.

Certainly the awards Dumbledore had promised and the points to Gryffindor after that were nice, but when he had been left alone with Dumbledore when Ron took Lockhart to follow his sister he began to get a bit worried. Guinevere, or whatever the basilisk's real name was, had managed to stay quiet until now, but he was worried about her. While she had hurt a lot of people, and nearly killed him at least half a dozen times, in the end she had helped him to finish Tom Riddle off.

As soon as she spoke, it was going to be obvious that she was only speaking in Parseltongue, not to mention the blinding and her tongue. He didn't want her killed, but she also didn't seem like she would leave him... and probably wouldn't be safe to let run around anyway with the poison kisses and all.

He was a bit relieved when Dumbledore started off the conversation in a different direction and the discussion that followed proved to be very reassuring. He wasn't entirely sure about Dumbledore's assessment of his Parseltongue ability, but it did seem to make sense given that Ginny now understood it too. Guinevere just snorted when she heard the explanation though, which elicited a raised eyebrow from Dumbledore.

He finished his thoughts though and it was only as Harry thought the basilisk was finally going to be broached that Malfoy had burst into the room. The exchange following that had finally seen Guinevere leave his side (or he hers, anyway) and by the time he reached McGonagall's office again following Dobby's freedom she was looking considerably chastened.

Dumbledore had asked that Harry wait at that point while he went to fetch McGonagall and that had left him in his current situation. Still, as he glanced over at Guinevere and the door began to open, he thought it could have turned out far worse.

"Now, Harry, let us delve a bit further the mystery of this young woman, shall we?" Dumbledore said, smiling widely as he walked back into the chamber.

Harry smiled weakly. "What did you want to know, Professor?"

Chuckling, the Headmaster said, "You needn't worry, we won't harm her. We just wish to understand how she came to be down in the Chamber of Secrets."

McGonagal cleared her throat and said a bit more tersely and to the point than Dumbledore. "We noted that the basilisk was not included in your story, Potter. And Albus informed me she apparently speaks Parseltongue. Do you wish to expand upon your earlier tale?"

"Not really?" Harry waved his hands frantically when McGonagal's expression become even more severe at this comment and he added, "But, ahh, that doesn't really matter. I mean, I was just joking. I'll tell you what happened." He followed the last with a slightly more accurate rendition of the fight between himself, Riddle, and the basilisk. Or at least he started that way- by the time he had finished, he was pretty sure he had spit out more details than he had actually remembered.

On the upside, his guess about where the basilisk went appeared to be correct based on the the response of the Professors. On the downside- his guess about where the basilisk went appeared to be correct.

"Well, this does clear up at least one mystery," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eyes, "Fawkes appeared quite upset by the fact that I was going to be alone with Guinevere here and appears to bear quite the grudge. It may be best if we don't visit in my office for a bit.

"Now I am quite curious about the nam-"

"Albus!" Professor McGonagal said sharply. "Are you truly going to ignore the implications of this transfiguration? This is _human_ transfiguration, applied to a non-human. An XXXXX magically resistant being of significant size no less. Bodyweight and viciousness alone would require a truly phenomenal amount of wand power and concentration, even if it was accidental magic.

"And this doesn't even touch upon the legal implications. Human Trans-Species Transfiguration is heavily restricted for very valid reasons and is nearly impossible to Untransfigure. Combined with Gamp's Law and the inability to create sentience..."

Dumbledore cleared his throat and McGonagal actually blushed as she trailed off and he said, "I believe I wrote an article for Transfiguration Today on that very subject, Minerva, so I would venture to say I am aware of the issues this presents. I think we needn't frighten Harry with the legal complications just yet though, particularly before we have identified all the particulars."

Her expression a touch repentant, McGonagal responded, "Well, yes, of course. However, that was just an example of the complications we face. Consider the-" As she continued arguing with Headmaster Dumbledore, Harry began to zone out more than a bit. The discussion was well over his head and he really hoped that this was all NEWT level or at least OWL. If not, he was failing next year for sure.

Beginning to grow a bit restless, he leaned back in his chair and kicked his legs a bit, then nearly jumped out of his skin as he felt a tickling sensation at his ear and heard a very light, almost sub-vocal hiss. "The old ones are very silly, aren't they? One would think they had forgotten the reason you are the new Master."

Glancing over at Guinevere, Harry had to lean back a bit to avoid yet another attempted kiss. While they hadn't been bad per se, at least when they weren't leaving him on Death's door, he really didn't think that would reduce the amount of questions that Dumbledore and McGonagal ended up asking. Not to mention they _were_ old and probably didn't understand that kind of thing anymore. Not that he had given it a lot of thought himself either, but, well, he was a 12 year old boy verging on 13.

Whispering to the transfigured basilisk, Harry focused hard on her... snakier... qualities and whispered back in Parseltongue, "What do you mean?"

Guinivere tilted her head and tasted the air, her small pink tongue briefly parting her lips. "Are those who speak the True Tongue not feared any longer? In the first Master's time, it was not so." She sounded almost astonished, as if she couldn't believe the stupidity of people not running from Harry screaming for their lives.

The comment provoked memories of the smear campaign against him during the year and Harry scowled. "No, they're definitely still feared. Some stupid stereotype about them all being Dark Lords." Those rumors had made his second year at Hogwarts far less enjoyable than his first, though if he was being honest the atmosphere of fear that the petrifications had caused was probably the bigger part of that. He didn't think that this year would seem quite as exciting in retrospect as his first year confrontations with the Cerberus, Snape, and the traps under Hogwarts did now.

"Well, of course. How could they not be?"

"_Dark_ Lords," Harry emphasized. "Evil. Bad people. When people found out I was a Parseltongue this year they acted like I was going to steal their soul or something."

Guinevere scoffed. "It's only a piece, no one's going to miss it."

"..." Harry closed his eyes for a moment, lips pursed. Guinevere seemed to take this as an invitation to try kissing him again and he was stunned enough that it took him nearly a minute to recover and pull away. Trying to find his thoughts, he opened his mouth several times without actually saying anything before he finally found his voice. "I... please tell me that I misheard you."

Apparently happy to comply, Guinevere promptly said, "You misheard me."

Harry let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Then paused and clarified. "And you did not say that I steal pieces of people's souls."

"I did not say you steal pieces of people's souls?" The hesitant question in the statement spoke to the basilisk's confusion and did not come across as particularly reassuring. Opening his eyes, Harry looked at the girl before him and saw the same thing written all over her face. Her follow up question shattered his brief moment of hope. "I am still telling you what you tell me, right? Not answering questions?"

Harry wondered briefly if he would have to go on the run with Ginny. Breaking the news that she was in fact a dark witch was going to be rather horrible on top of what had already happened to her. He then noticed the silence in the room and realized that it had lasted for awhile. Turning slowly, he looked at Dumbledore and McGonagal and gulped.

The pair looked far more imposing now that they knew he was evil. McGonagal had the sternest, most dissapproving frown on her face that he had ever seen. Her face might have been chiseled out of granite and he wasn't entirely certain that her lips weren't going to pop from the pressure keeping them that tightly together. Dumbledore, while he retained the trademark twinkle in his eyes, was also shaking his head in dissapproval.

"I can explain!" He really couldn't. There had to be something he could say though. Something to try and make them ignore the fact that he was stealing people's souls. Could steal people's souls? He had no idea and was almost scared to ask Guinevere for more information.

"There is no excuse you can give, Mr. Potter! Even if you did just save young Ginevra and stop the petrifications. And potentially break new ground in Transfiguration."

Harry knew they were going to throw him in prison now. Certainly expel him at the very least.

"Detention!"

Or... put him in detention. For stealing souls? Really? He gaped at McGonagal.

"I don't care how much leeway you may believe you have gained for your good deeds. There is no excuse for making out in front of your teachers! And at your age! With a class XXXXX magical creature no less!"

"Detention?" he asked weakly, limp from relief.

"I don't know what the two of you were whispering about in Parseltongue, but the lack of propriety in your actions is astounding, Mr. Potter. I haven't seen the like since your father attended school."

Didn't know... Dumbledore and McGonagal couldn't speak Parseltongue. Dumbledore and McGonagal couldn't understand what Guinevere had said. Didn't know that he was as good as a Dark Lord already just because of an ability he may or may not have gotten from Voldemort. The thoughts circled around for a bit longer in his head, largely repeating themselves as McGonagal lectured on something about behavior to be expected from upper years.

Finally, when Dumbledore cleared his throat, she cut off abruptly with a harumph and Harry reined in the wild confusion in his head. Well, if they weren't aware of it, he certainly wasn't going to come out and tell them he was a Dark Lord.

"Ahem. Youthful indiscretions aside, perhaps we could get back to the questions we still have so that Harry can go see his friends, attend the feast, and perhaps get some rest." Dumbledore, at least, sounded far more amused than angry, despite the stern expression he had put on earlier. Harry was pretty sure if he knew that he could be stealing his soul right then that wouldn't be the case. "I'm sure that our little discussion, while engrossing to us, did not particularly keep Harry's attention, Minerva. Perhaps even bored him given the theoretical concepts involved."

Raising an eyebrow at Harry, Dumbledore seemed to be asking for a comment by him and he sank into his seat and stammered, "Ahh... maybe a little, Headmaster."

"Just so. Well, I'm afraid I can't say Minerva isn't justified in her detention despite that, but hopefully you've learned your lesson about, ahh, the proper time and place for certain behavior." At this he again looked to Harry, pointedly glancing over his spectacles until Harry nodded wildly. "Very good, now perhaps to my question from earlier. Guinevere's name? Could you perhaps ask where it came from? It strikes me as an odd choice, by Salazar I presume."

Shrugging and still desperately relieved that he wasn't going to be expelled immediately, Harry turned to Guinevere and asked, "I assume you understood that?"

She promptly nodded.

"Well, what's the story behind the name?"

The transfigured basilisk considered for a moment, then smiled and said, "You can tell the bearded one that I am Guinevere."

Harry frowned. "He already knows that. That's what he's asking about."

"No, tell him that I am _the_ Guinevere. Arthur's wife?"

Feeling more like the Boy-Who-Is-Always-Surprised than the Boy-Who-Lived, Harry's mouth dropped open again. "Arthur? King Arthur? Camelot, knights, all that stuff? _That_ Guinevere?"

Looking very pleased with herself, Guinevere nodded.

"I can't tell him that! That can't possibly be true. He'll never believe it."

"Why not? It is true. Sort of." The last couple words were muttered under her breath, and Harry just barely caught them. If he had been any farther from her, he wouldn't have heard them. He was tempted to call her on it, but finally decided it wasn't worth the hassle right now.

Narrowing his eyes, Harry said, "Dumbledore's not dumb, he's going to want more. I'll be here all night!"

Shrugging, the basilisk said, "I bet a kiss it will make him ask less questions, not more. A long one, too." She grinned impishly, the single little fang giving the expression an odd appeal. Harry wondered what his thinking an extremely dangerous magical creature was cute meant about him. Maybe just that his magic had a good idea of what he liked, even if he had never thought about it before. Perhaps he and Hagrid could start swapping stories.

Sighing, Harry said, "Fine, whatever." Turning back to Dumbledore, he answered his earlier question. "She says it's because she is the Guinevere, like the one from King Arthur."

Expecting an immediate denial, sputtering, or any other kind of sane reaction of the same kind he had experienced, he was surprised to see Dumbledore consider this silently for several moments. Hand stroking his beard, the garishly dressed old wizard finally said, "That does make more sense. Yes, I can see that."

"Albus. While certainly the concept is more believable from a theoretical standpoint, she can't possibly be the Guinevere from the days of Arthur. She lived over five centuries before Salazar was even born!"

Harry wondered if he was going to be able to close his jaw by the end of the night. His Head of House's comment didn't help either. What were they talking about?

He didn't realize he had spoken the last question out loud until Dumbledore looked at him with a kindly expression and said, "My apologies, Harry. Allow me to explain. I will attempt to be concise and keep it simple.

"There are a number of theories and laws governing Transfiguration. While you have learned a few, the more complicated ones are not studied until after you have gotten an OWL and are studying for your NEWTS. I won't go into detail, but suffice it to say that changing a non-sentient animal, even a magical one-"

McGonagal interupted briefly. "Especially a magical one, Albus. No need to promote misinformation even if Mr. Potter will not study these concepts for some years to come."

Dumbledore nodded to his Professor of Transfiguration. "My apologies, Minerva, you are correct. So, Harry, changing a non-sentient animal, especially a magical one, into a sentient human is something that is widely considered to be impossible. It is certainly possible to change the form, but the poor being will have no more of a mind than he or she did originally."

Harry was tempted to ask about the snakes he had spoken to over the years, since they certainly hadn't seemed to have any problems with speaking, but he held his tongue. He was leery of prompting any thoughts at all about his Parseltongue status given what Guinevere had said earlier.

"Moreover, reversing a transfiguration into a human is more than difficult. There are a number of theories around the why of this, but they aren't important right now. The flip side of both, however, namely transfiguring a human into another creature and reversing that, is not only possible, it is common. You yourself will study it if you get an OWL in Transfiguration." Dumbledore pulled out his wand and raised a questioning hand at his colleague. She nodded to demonstrate her permission and he waved his wand in a convoluted gesture that then shrank the Professor from at least a hand taller than Harry himself to the size of a mouse. In fact, not only the size, but the shape of a mouse, too. This elicited annoyed chittering from the newly made rodent and it abruptly expanded into a cat and then back into his professor.

"Really, Albus. Every time." She said no more, but Dumbledore chuckled quietly and then continued before Harry could ask any questions about why McGonagall had transformed into a cat and then a person when the enchantment was lifted.

"As you can see, while challenging, it is far from impossible. While transfiguration into a magical creature is exponentially more difficult-" Harry thought that must mean really, really difficult. "-it is not unheard of for the most powerful of wizards and witches."

He paused for a moment, as if waiting for a response and Harry assumed it was a lifetime spent teaching that probably stopped his explanation there. He was looking to Harry to apply what he had just learned to explain why this made Guinevere being, well, Guinevere a more acceptable response than transfiguration.

"So... you're saying that if I had changed Guinevere into a girl, I would have been doing something impossible, but... changing her back to a human if she already was one is only hard."

"Exactly so, my boy." Dumbledore beamed and Harry felt a warm glow of accomplishment at the expression of pride on his Headmaster's face.

"That makes sense I guess," Harry said, nodding to himself. He didn't even think about the fact that he was mirroring Dumbledore's own statement from earlier. However, he did wonder about the small secretive little smile on Guinevere's lips and suspected that he would be rudely disillusioned yet again when they were alone once more.

Albus nodded once himself and said, "It does beg the question, however, that Minerva brought up. Which is how we explain the incongruity in the time periods."

He glanced over at Guinevere as he said this and she simply smiled blankly. Harry was certain she understood, but dutifully translated into Parseltongue again. This time he got another of the one word answers from early on in the interview and in turn repeated it for the two professors. "She just said, 'Merlin', Professor."

He was a bit miffed about the answer himself and prodded her a few times, but she refused to answer any further. Finally, he shrugged his shoulders and turned back to Dumbledore. The man said, "Well, it is a possible explanation, though I would be fascinated to hear more details. Much of what we know about Merlin at this point is largely speculation and myth, though he is listed on the rolls here at Hogwarts during the time of the Founders.

"Our new friend appears to be a bit exhausted though and I'm sure you are feeling the same, Harry.

"I think we have enough information to ponder for now. Why don't you head to the infirmary and have Madame Pomfrey take a look at you and your friend. I will have Professor McGonagall see about allowing her to stay in the Gryffindor dorms for now, since you are the only one who can understand her."

Harry smiled wanly and nodded, he stood and Guinevere promptly did the same, latching on to his arm as if it were a lifeline in a stormy sea. He hoped that she got over this soon or he would be feeding even more rumors as soon as classes started back up. He abruptly recalled the feast for the students who were being freed from Petrification. He had better amend that to hoping she got over it in the next hour or so, actually.

As the pair of children stepped out of the hallway leading to the Deputy Headmaster's office, Guinevere tasted the air again and then flared her nostrils. "Food! I'm sooo hungry, let's go!"

Harry was nearly pulled off of his feet as the girl tugged him forward at speed and wondered if he was even going to be able to get her to the infirmary at all or if she would drag him to the Great Hall outright. Hopefully he could divert her at least briefly. He really didn't want to see what would come out of him walking in (so to speak) with a girl wearing nothing but his own outer robe, covered in blood, and babbling wildly in Parseltongue because she hadn't eaten in a thousand years.


	2. Chapter 2

Luckily, Harry wasn't dragged all of the way to the Great Hall by the green-haired girl who was once a basilisk. In fact, they didn't make it further than the first corner when she ran headlong into the wall and nearly knocked herself unconscious. That reminded Harry that there was another reason that she had probably been holding onto him all of this time and he felt a little guilty about his earlier thoughts.

Apparently navigating by scent wasn't exactly a precise art and he suspected it was considerably more accurate when attempted on people and animals than objects and walls. He would have asked Guinevere, but she appeared so dazed that he was beginning to get a bit concerned. She had taken several hard crashes into the walls before his accidental magic as well, but he rather suspected that a massive giant serpent had a harder head than a twelve year old girl.

With a little effort he managed to get her to her feet, though she was no longer simply clutching his arm but hanging from it. More gently than he might have a few minutes earlier, he got the two of them turned around and headed away from the stairs leading down to the Great Hall. Of course, as soon as he got half way to the stairs that he usually took to the third floor a glance behind revealed that he could have just waited and they would have been able to take the stairwell Guinevere had been aiming for in her dash.

Still, it didn't take too long to get to the Hospital Wing. Keeping one arm around Guinevere's waist, as her grip had grown tenous enough during the walk over that she had nearly fallen a couple times, Harry pushed open one of the doors and maneuvered his charge through.

He was a bit reassured by the fact that she kept reaching behind herself despite her lack of overt protest about the direction they were traveling. Overt being another attempt to outright carry him off anyway, her piteous whimpers about the food rather indicated where she would rather be.

His first sight on entering the room was Ginny being fussed over by her mother and Madame Pomfrey. As soon as she caught a glimpse of Guinevere and Harry though she started pushing them away. This was largely ineffective on her mother, but Madame Pomfrey noted the girl hanging off of Harry and headed over to help. It wasn't long before they were deposited on and next to the bed beside Ginny while the school nurse muttered healing charms at Guinevere.

"Dreadful," Harry heard Pomfrey mutter as scrapes and bruises were mended and the large knot on the transfigured basilisk's head shrank slowly. Satisfied that the girl would be back to normal in no time, he turned to Ginny to ask her how she was feeling, then paused as something niggled at the back of his mind.

As Ron's sister answered, he prodded at the little thought in the back of his head like a 5 year old with a missing tooth. Oh, right. Death beam laser eyes if they were healed. Whirling around he was treated to the sight of an apparently stumped Madame Pomfrey, something he had never thought to see.

"What's wrong, Madame Pomfrey?" he asked, concerned now as he saw the Healing Witch waving her wand around rather more vigorously than he was used to from the staid witch.

Glancing up, Pomfrey said, "While this damage is quite horrible, it should be responding to my spells. The young woman's eyesight wouldn't be restored immediately, but it would repair the membrane of the eye and allow us further treatment. Can you tell me how this occurred, Harry? I'm afraid she hasn't been responding to my questions."

Grimacing, Harry glanced at Guinevere and wondered how to broach the subject without actually coming outright and saying that her eyes shouldn't be fixed. He didn't think that would go over well with Guinevere or Madame Pomfrey. For that matter, he had forgotten to ask Dumbledore and McGonagal whether it was okay for other adults to know about Guinevere being the basilisk at all.

"You shouldn't heal her at all, Madame Pomfrey," Ginny said with a sniff, her eyes fixed on the basilisk turned girl with more than a little animosity in them.

"Ginerva Molly Weasley!" Harry winced and saw Ron's sister do the same as her mother grabbed one ear and hauled her off of the table. Completely ignoring her daughter's cries, she dragged her in front of Guinevere and let go. "Apologize. Immediately."

"Mom! She's the-" She cut off abruptly as Harry shook his head vigorously behind her mother's back. Her frustration was palpable as she actually stomped her foot and nearly appeared ready to scream. He wasn't sure he had ever seen Ginny this wound up in the whole time he had known her. She was always so shy he had thought Ron's occasional stories about his bratty sister were made up.

"She's..."

Ginny glanced at Harry once more, appearing torn and he mouthed 'I will owe you one', though he wasn't sure if she'd actually get it. Finally she shrugged, crossing her arms across her chest and not appearing especially happy with her decision.

Sullenly, she finished, "She's the one who started it, she said that I should be expelled. Plus, Fawkes doesn't like her at all." She turned and stuck her tongue out at Guinevere. This was apparently the wrong move, as Mrs. Weasley's wand snapped up abruptly and Ginny's tongue stayed that way as she let out an odd little squeak. Horrified eyes returned to Harry and she abruptly brought her hands up to hide her mouth, her cheeks going crimson.

"I have had just about enough of this, young lady." Molly blew out her cheeks, then she closed her eyes and let her wand drop. Ginny didn't interupt this time, despite presumably having the use of her tongue again. "I am aware you have had a very trying day and I am making allowances, but regardless of what Guinevere has or has not said or done to you, responding in kind or worse is not appropriate. I didn't raise you like that and you will apologize."

"Fine," Ginny said, her eyes down. "I'm sorry I said that Pomfrey shouldn't heal you."

Leaning forward, Guinevere smiled brightly at the apology and nodded her head. Then she whispered something in Ginny's ear that Harry couldn't hear even from only a few feet away. Harry sighed. He suspected he knew what was about to happen now and it wasn't likely to go well for the youngest Weasley.

He wasn't wrong. Ginny actually screamed, reaching for Guinevere with her hands curled into claws as she yelled, "You're horrible! I wish Fawkes had done more than scratch out your eyes!" This elicited a gasp from both Pomfrey and Mrs. Weasley and apparently shocked them enough that Harry himself had to dive forward and pull Ginny off of the transfigured basilisk. He wasn't exactly sure how Ginny had put together that piece of the events down in the chamber, but it was out now and it would lead where it would. For all he knew, Fawkes communicated it to her somehow while the basilisk girl had been kissing him.

Guinevere in the meantime had a rather smug look on her face that wasn't earning any points with either of the two older women in the room. He was amazed at how easily she was able to manipulate people after being a person for all of maybe three hours, but she evidently wasn't quite as good as she thought she was if she thought that was anything approaching a good idea.

It took another ten minutes, but eventually both girls were separated and moved to opposite sides of the Hospital Wing and told firmly to stay there. Madame Pomfrey in the mean time badgered Harry into giving out an abbreviated version of the same story he had told to Dumbledore and McGonagal. It elicited a few muttered comments about boys that sounded more than a bit derogatory, but she finally patted him on the back and said she had heard enough.

"Well, I'm afraid I know what is going on now at least," the Healer said, sighing. "And unfortunately there isn't a blessed thing I can do about it."

"What is it?"

Pomfrey looked over at Guinevere, who was pouting at not being allowed to go over to Harry, and finally said, "I can't say whether she's a dark creature now, but when she received her wounds she certainly was. Unfortunately, wounds inflicted by a Phoenix on a creature of darkness will not heal until the Phoenix forgives them.

"Perhaps it is just as well. We can't be sure whether her eyes would be safe anyway if she kept her venom, but I hate to let a young girl suffer, particularly after she has been trapped for so very long." Giving Harry another pat on the back, she said, "It was a brave thing you did today, Harry. I may complain about your reckless behavior, but it certainly paid off in that horrible place and I'm glad you were able to rescue both of these young girls."

Her smile quirked upwards a little and Harry gave her a suspicious stare. That looked an awfully lot like Dudley's 'let's make fun of Harry' smile. "We'll see if you're as glad in a couple weeks."

Glancing back and forth between the two girls in the hall, he grinned a little, though it was somewhat strained. He wasn't sure exactly what Madame Pomfrey was referring to, but he suspected that Guinevere alone was probably going to be enough to make him question whether getting swallowed whole would have been the preferable fate.

Thanking Pomfrey, he walked over to Guinevere first and said, "I'm going to go talk to Ginny like I promised. Madame Pomfrey said she can't do anything else for you for now, but after that is done, we can go to the feast-" He held up a hand, interupting the protests. "-and I'm going to ask Ginny to come too."

"I do not want her there though," the snake woman whined, pouting in an absolutely adorable manner that took some of the impact out of the angry sibilant words of Parseltongue, "she will try to command me and then you will get upset. The clutch mother was supposed to take her away after her outburst and eat her because she failed to obey."

Choking on an abrupt laugh, Harry coughed and said, "You have the weirdest gaps in your knowledge. How can you know about Guinevere and King Arthur and Merlin, but not know what clothes are or how human mothers treat their children?" He honestly was curious about that, but he suspected that he wouldn't get the answer today. He was proven right as Guinevere simply ignored the question, so he continued with what he had been meaning to say before her weird statement.

"Anyway, you had better get used to being nice to people you don't like, because from what Madame Pomfrey said you need to get Fawkes to like you if you ever want to see again." He tried to sound a little apologetic, but if she was going to be sticking around him she was going to need to get a little more civilized. He also couldn't help digging the knife in a bit further. "I think Ginny will be a good test run before we put you two face to face."

She wrinkled her nose at this and he sensed she was stalling for time as she asked, "Should you not be examined by the Pomfrey person as well?"

"Already done," he said casually. "I am more healthy than I have ever been in my life. Apparently there's nothing quite like a series of phoenix tears and basilisk venom applications to take care of what ails you. Even my scar's better." He raised his hand, pushing his bangs out of the way to display a pale white scar where it had previously been red and inflamed for most of his life.

"But..." The transfigured basilisk appeared frustrated, head turning towards Ginny with a resentful expression and scowling when the girl glanced over at her mother then stuck her tongue out again when she saw that she wasn't watching. Harry wondered absently if that had been in retaliation for Guinevere's tongue flicking out periodically to test the air or just more of the same.

"Nope. You have 10 minutes to get used to the idea. I won't be long."

* * *

While it had been a bit more than ten minutes, he, Ginny, and Guinevere were finally on their way to the feast that Dumbledore had promised. While Mrs. Weasley had made herself scarce, albeit with a knowing little smirk that made her daughter scowl at her with pink cheeks, Ginny had apparently had the same idea as Guinevere and had started by quizzing him on his health. With a number of pointed references to how he had been poisoned. When he had finally reassured her, she had then demanded an accounting of what had happened after she went down into the chamber.

While he had expected tears and recriminations when he talked about some of the events, what he actually got from Ginny was fierce growls and cheers when things didn't go the way of Riddle and even Lockhart. In the end, she got the closest rendition to the truth that he had told yet. However, he still wasn't quite sure how to broach the whole stealing souls thing and thought he could probably pass that on a little later. He did reassure her that he hadn't said anything about her speaking Parseltongue now though, or at least understanding it.

In the end, while he hadn't been sure Ginny wouldn't be stuck in the Hospital Wing for the night, Madame Pomfrey had let her go with only a firm admonition that she was to return if she felt any of an entire laundry list of symptoms.

Half way to the Great Hall, Harry was wondering if the headache he was getting qualified him to return to the Healer's care. Given her earlier words and the sly smiles she and Mrs. Weasley had been exchanging, he rather thought she'd say this wasn't anything she could do anything about though.

"It's such a pleasure to have you here for a time, Miss Giant Icky Reptile Thing." The last was in broken Parseltongue, proving that Ginny could in fact still speak it, though it was halting and didn't quite have the fluidity that his own and Guinevere's had. Though that could be because... "I did get that right, Miss Giant Icky Disgusting Reptile Thing, didn't I? I wouldn't want to get your name wrong."

Harry sighed. Mrs. Weasley had apparently laid down the same ultimatum that he had to Guinevere and much like the snake girl, Ginny had taken it only so far as to use a simpering, sweet tone for all of her conversation that was patently false even to his ears. And he had no experience with girls whatsoever, since Hermione barely counted.

Guinevere glowered at the red head and then turned to Harry with a huff, seizing his arm and pulling at him beseechingly. "Master, make the fake heir stop her insults. She knows very well what she is saying and should not be casting aspersions with her spots and weird bloody hair." Harry didn't bother to pass on the message, since he suspected that the gasp of outrage that Ginny had let out meant she had heard well enough.

He wondered for a moment how Guinevere knew what color Ginny's hair was and that she had freckles, but then he realized she had probably seen it while Tom was possessing her.

"You're one to talk with that moldy old green of yours! I bet it feels like it looks- scaly, slimy, and disgusting." And there went the sweet, lilting cadence to that half of the conversation. Ginny definitely had the quicker temper of these two and Guinevere seemed to have a sixth sense for how to needle her.

The basilisk tossed her head and stroked a bit of the hair that came down just below her shoulders. No doubt actually verifying what she was about to say, since he didn't think she'd actually had a reason to touch her hair since she was transformed. Harry could actually confirm that it was not slimy or scaly though, despite almost looking as if it were alive- it had the same type of wild, uncontrollable look to it that his own did. It looked better on her though, less like she had just gotten out of bed and more like there had only been enough time to run a brush through it a few times but that had been just enough attention to tame it a little.

"Perhaps your eyes are bad? You should go back and have the Pomfrey person check them again. The Master has given me very soft hair and will no doubt want to-"

Harry held up a hand and stopped walking. Hearing sweet and simpering in Parseltongue was just wrong and he wasn't sure he wanted to hear the rest of that sentence. He knew he didn't want Ginny to hear it. The younger girl and Guinevere both took a couple steps more before realizing he had halted, though the transfigured basilisk was wrapped tightly enough around his arm that she nearly dragged him with her a bit again. He extracted himself from her grasp and took a step away as they turned to face him so that the two of them were an equal distance away from him. This would go better if it didn't look like he was favoring one or the other of them. He hoped.

"Ok, obviously the whole 'play nice' thing isn't quite working." Harry thought that was an understatement, but wasn't about to say that they were two steps from breaking into a cat fight that would probably go very poorly for Ginny if there was any biting involved at all. "So could you two maybe just ignore each other for awhile? Just through dinner at least?"

The two of them turned their heads towards each other, one tasting the air and the other staring determinedly. Finally, Ginny said, "I can be the bigger woman, Harry."

"Obviously." Guinevere pulled at the fabric of the shirt she had borrowed from Ginny with both hands, gathering up a bit of loose material and flapping it. He wondered if she was hot or something.

"What did you say!?"

Harry stepped between the two quickly, making soothing gestures. He had no idea why that last comment had even set Ginny off, but it wasn't worth trying to figure it out. It took a little while, but they finally had made their peace with each other, or at least stopped sniping and the trio were able to start moving again.

It only took about five more minutes, despite Hogwarts being difficult with the stairs, before they finally stepped into the Great Hall and Harry spotted Ron and Hermione. Raising his arm to wave, he realized that Guinevere was attached to it again and as he tried to use his other found that Ginny had latched on to that one. Giving it up as a bad job, he just moved towards his friends, trying to ignore some of the stares.

When Hermione finally saw him and jumped over to give him an excited hug, he had to smile though. Her excited babbling about how she was sure they would be able to figure it out was soothing after the month or more without the exciteable young witch. In fact, she only stopped when Guinevere let out a displeased hiss, complaining in Parseltongue about even more people competing for her Master's attention.

"Umm, Harry, who is this?" Hermione had taken a step back and Ron hurried over as well, now that she had gotten the hopping and screaming out of her system.

Too happy now to let the jealous reaction on the part of the basilisk phase him, he said, "Hermione, this is Guinevere, she was, umm, rescued, at the same time as Ginny. She doesn't say much yet because of the trauma and stuff and she's a little scared, so she's been sticking close to me." He gave the snake girl a pointed nudge as he emphasized the not saying much part of his speech, which got him a sullen 'look' and a nod. He wasn't sure how much people would buy the scared thing given the glower she had been directing at Hermione, but it was worth a shot.

Looking around at the other Gryffindors in the vicinity, he leaned in towards his friend and whispered, "I'll tell you the real story later."

This got him a startled glance from Hermione that told him Ron hadn't given her many details yet either, but he then turned to the green haired girl on his arm and said, "Guinevere, this is Hermione. And actually, while we're at it, you were never really introduced to Ron. The other people nearby are Neville, Parvati, Lavender, Dean, Seamus, and-" He paused at a little blonde girl with slightly protuberant eyes. "Umm, sorry, I actually don't know who this is."

"Luna!"

Ginny let go of his arm and moved forward to hug the girl, who smiled shyly and said, "I'm very glad to see that you're okay, Ginny. I was worried when I heard you had been kidnapped."

"Ahh..." Ginny appeared a little flustered for some reason, but she got a funny little smile on her face after a minute. "It's alright now. Harry actually saved me."

For some reason this made Luna's smile brighten and her eyes widen until she gave a delighted laugh and Ginny glanced over at the boy next to her, then hurriedly said, "I'm going to... uhh, go catch up with Luna and tell her what happened. We haven't talked much this year because of, umm, you know."

With that, she quickly pulled Luna away towards a more isolated corner of the room, leaving Harry more than a little bewildered at the exchange. He glanced over at Ron and found his best friend shaking his head as well.

"That was Luna Lovegood," the redhead explained, "She lives right nearby and Ginny and her played a lot as kids since they're the same age." He leaned in and added, "She's kind of loony. Lives with her Dad all alone and hasn't been quite right since her Mom passed away," in a conspiriatorial tone.

"Ron!" Hermione's yell was scandalized, though her follow up comment was in a slightly more normal tone of voice. "That's a horrible thing to say. Though... it may explain why she wasn't wearing any shoes."

Guinevere looked disappointed and asked, "So this means I cannot do the same? These are very uncomfor-" Harry put a hand over her mouth and winced as she bit it, her expression a bit cross.

Hermione stared at the girl again, distracted from berating Ron about his lack of sensitivity. "I'm certain that was-"

"Ahh, why don't we go sit down at the table," Harry interupted, giving his friend a meaningful look and mouthing 'Later'. Huffing, she nodded and they all moved over to the Gryffindor table, sitting down despite the lack of food upon the broad surface. It would come soon enough Harry knew and he hurriedly assured the basilisk that the food would be there shortly.

Satisfied that she was willing to wait and was unlikely to speak again after a few whispered words, Harry turned back to his friends. He spent a good ten minutes chatting with them happily, catching Hermione up on what had happened in the school while she was Petrified and some of the details of the adventure down in the Chamber of Secrets that he didn't think needed to be kept quiet when he heard an ominous "Yum" behind him in Parseltongue.

Turning slowly, he really hoped that the food had just arrived without him noticing, but he was disappointed as he looked at the table. When he completed his turn though, he spotted Guinevere licking her lips and searching eagerly for more food, this time remembering to use her nose rather than her tongue. Several students across the dark, polished surface of the table were looking slightly green, however, and Harry got a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach.

"Hey, where's Scabbers? I just set him down for a minute." Correction, that wasn't a sinking sensation. That was his stomach hitting his boots. He started at Guinevere for a few moments, then buried his head in his arms, hoping beyond hope that this wouldn't end up where he thought it was going.

Hermione immediately chimed in while Harry was frozen. "Eww, Ron. I've told you not to put your rat on the dining hall table before!"

"It's not a big deal, he's clean! It's not like he runs around in his own poop or anything." Ron sounded indignant. "He's super smart, even if he is a lazy sack of bones." Ron looked over towards Harry. "Hey, back me up, Harry. Harry?"

When he didn't get a response, Harry caught a glimpse of him shrugging, then he turned towards a few of the people who now looked like they were about to involuntarily make room for more dinner. "Hey, did any of you see where Scabbers went?" Seamus and Neville hesitantly raised their hands, pointing at Guinevere, and Parvati gulped and turned even paler before getting up and rushing out of the room.

Ron looked at Guinevere and Harry raised his head. As the basilisk "looked" back she licked her lips and his eyes widened abruptly as understanding dawned. "You cough him up!" Ron tried to dive across Harry and stick his hand down Guinevere's throat, only barely held back by the Boy Who Lived.

"Ron," he hissed as quietly and urgently as he could manage, "do not stick your hand in her mouth, that is a really, really bad idea." Guinevere luckily didn't seem to appreciate the attack and had backed off slightly, her head tilted in confusion over what had caused this. That was at least something. And on the plus side, Ginny wasn't here to make it even worse. "Look, I'm sorry, but Scabbers is gone, I'll... get you a new rat, or an owl, or something. She's my responsibility, I'll make it up, promise."

"How is she your..." Ron's eyes narrowed and he glanced between the transfigured basilisk and his sister across the room. He wasn't fighting Harry as hard now though and he finally settled back into his place with a disgruntled expression.

Harry spoke a bit more loudly this time, wanting this part to be overheard. "Guinevere was stuck down in the Chamber for a long time, she's, uhh, kind of had to do some things we wouldn't consider to survive." This was true. She probably would have done them anyway, even if she wasn't trapped in the Chamber, but he thought it best not to mention that. "She's just, uhh, really looking forward to the feast. She's kind of hungry."

The green haired girl nodded enthusiastically at this, smiling brightly. He hoped no one noticed just how prominent that fang was- it wasn't quite at movie vampire levels, but it was definitely beyond even Hermione sized when it came to large teeth.

Murmurs followed this declaration and he heard a few additional whispers, including one or two that appeared to suddenly decide that the one whose "bones will lie forever in the Chamber of Secrets" wasn't Ginny after all, but this girl. Harry had to admit that she did look more the part at the moment- it was hard to miss that she hadn't opened her eyes the entire time she had been here, even if the blood was gone, and she was rail thin compared to Ginny. And Ginny hadn't been eating all that well before her trip into the Chamber either.

Luckily, almost as if it had been timed, the feast suddenly appeared on the table.

He decided that was about as lucky a break as he was going to get tonight and urged everyone to dig in even as he did the same for himself and Guinevere. Introducing her to silverware occupied a fair amount of his time, but by the time he had gotten her eating with those rather than simply diving at the meat with her bare hands Ron appeared to have distracted himself with the food.

He sighed in relief. He was no longer looking forward to getting his friends alone to discuss the situation, but he'd weather the night somehow. Tomorrow at least had to be better, right?


	3. Chapter 3

Staggering a little, Harry glanced back crossly at the green haired girl who was draped across his shoulders with her arms wrapped languidly around his neck. Her feet were actually dragging on the ground and he couldn't tell if she was actually sleeping or just being incredibly lazy after the feast because her eyes were always closed. He could actually feel her belly bulging against his back and he could hear Hermione fighting off giggles.

Turning his glower on her, she finally caved and said, "Oh, fine. I'll help," and moved in to take one arm. Judging by the lack of offended hissing, he thought Guinevere was well and truly out of it.

It would have been nice to have his best friend do the same, but Ron was still nursing a grudge over Scabbers and had gone on ahead of the two of them to the Gryffindor dorms. Given that it was only a couple of hours before dawn, Harry was amazed that he had lasted as long as he had while staggering down the halls of Hogwarts on his own. Particularly since he rather thought that Guinevere had consumed at least half her weight in food during the feast.

Ginny had been exhausted enough to leave the feast early with Percy, which was a shame. Not because he could have used more help with Guinevere, though that would have been nice, but because McGonagal had stopped by in the midst of the celebrations to inform him that his new "companion" would be staying in the redhead's dorm due to her apparent age and its proximity to him, her only (known) interpreter.

She had informed the other first year Gryffindor girls that were still at the party, but had left it to Harry to inform Ginny. Well, had asked him to tell her since he was already heading in that direction, but it felt a lot more satisfying to say she had dumped it in his lap.

"So, Harry... about Guinevere?" Hermione's tone was impatient now that they were far enough away from other students that might overhear.

Giving his friend a rueful smile, he said, "I'm guessing you're not going to put up with the delays and excuses I've been giving everyone else?"

"I should think not." She sniffed and stared down her nose at him, but then grinned and changed her tone from offended disapproval to a wheedling he heard more often from himself and Ron than he did the older girl. "It's not going to hurt you to tell it an extra time, is it? At least give me a summary."

"Alright." Harry glanced around a bit to make sure there was no one nearby, then leaned towards Hermione conspiratorially as they staggered down the hallway under the burden of the newly made girl. He gave a very quick summary of the events down in the Chamber that hadn't been covered at dinner and in the discussion with Dumbledore. Hermione made the appropriate noises in the right spots (as well as exclaiming, "Hah! I knew it was Parseltongue she was speaking"), but when he got to the discussion between McGonagal and Dumbledore about Transfiguration she was transfixed.

"This is absolutely fascinating, Harry," she said. Her tone was scolding and he suspected that if her arms hadn't been otherwise occupied, they would have been on her hips right quick. "How could you not pay more attention to it! Oh, how I wish I had been in the room to hear it all. It sounds a treat. Like listening to a guest lecture at Whitehall."

Harry glanced around once more- he had been very careful with this part of the story- and hissed, "Excuse me for being distracted by being told I was _stealing people's souls_!"

Hermione pinked and her expression became apologetic as she said, "Oh, yes. I am sorry, that... well, I got a little excited about the new magic, and the theory, and all." Brightening, she said, "But you did at least say it wasn't the whole thing, right?"

"Hermione!"

She giggled and he could tell she was still a bit loopy from the late night, but then she grew more serious. "We'll go down to the library first thing tomorrow, Harry. I'm sure they'll have something. It would be good to independently verify Guinevere's claims at least." She sounded excited to have a research project, probably something to distract her from exams having been cancelled.

"Do you really think something like this is going to be in the library? They would have strung me up from my toes like Filch is always going on about as soon as they found out I was a Parseltongue if Dumbledore knew. And you know he has to have read just about everything in the library."

Hermione appeared scandalized that he had doubted the Hogwarts book collection and said firmly, "If they don't have something on Parseltongues specifically, I'm sure they have books on the soul."

"Probably in the Restricted section though," Harry contributed morosely, kicking at a suit of armor as they walked past it. It cursed at him.

"Well..." Hermione didn't appear to be able to refute that, but pushed on determinedly. "We'll not know if we don't try though."

After that, the conversation died off. There wasn't much else that Harry could tell Hermione, other than some of the stuff about King Arthur and such, but he thought that could wait and truthfully, he rather felt that saving his breath for hauling a near-comatose snake girl up the stairs was probably a better use for it than talking.

By the time Harry and Hermione stumbled through the portrait hole, they were completely wiped and simply collapsed into one of the big fluffy couches near the portrait entrance. If he didn't know better, Harry would have thought the furniture actually expanded to hold the three children comfortably, but he was sure someone would have mentioned that was possible by now if it were the case.

"I really, really wish that Wingardium Leviosa worked on people," Hermione said into his shoulder, her voice muffled by his robes. "I am looking up a solution for carrying around big lumps that happen to be people just as soon as I can move again."

Harry tried to wave off the comment, but found that now that he was down and resting, his body didn't particularly want to comply. He settled for a verbal response. "Not now, trying to decide-" He yawned and his eyes drifted shut. He decided to leave them like that for a few minutes while he got his strength back. "-to decide... rats, I've forgotten now. What were you saying?"

His only response was a light snore, which he resolved to tease Hermione about. Just as soon as they got up in a few minutes. Ten at most.

* * *

"Would you look at that, brother?"

The voice slowly penetrated the sleepy haze that was still layered over Harry's thoughts, his dreams slowly fragmenting before the onslaught of the amused individual. He shifted a little, but a pleasant warmth and weight checked his movement and he heard a slight murmur near his left ear.

"I see it, but I'm hardly believing my eyes. The Boy-Who-Lived is apparently learning to live it up. Not quite the staid lad we've grown familiar with over the past two years, is he?"

Harry's eyes still didn't particularly want to open, but he let them part ever so minutely as he ran his tongue along his teeth and just barely wet his lips. He was greeted by a room that was largely a blur, his glasses, he now noted, apparently resting under his head rather than on it. At least, he assumed that was what the hard bit under his left ear was.

Two slightly clearer blurs that were almost certainly people were looming over his position. Between his poor vision, eyelashes, sleep gunk, and a brain that wasn't fully rebooted yet, he wasn't entirely sure though.

The reddish blob on the left flashed a white grin that was wide enough for him to recognize even without his prescription. "No doubt taking advantage of his newfound hero status. Never would have pegged him for it, but good on him. Poor Gin's going to be heartbroken though."

Harry heard another murmuring protest, this one slightly coherent, albeit in Parseltongue, from his right and the conversation started to register to his sleepy thoughts. Attempting to bring up his right arm to rub his eyes, he found it pinned, an attempt that was shortly duplicated on the left. Surreptitiously, he attempted to explore whatever was preventing him from moving before he opened his eyes fully and let people know he was awake. It was soft, covered in cloth, and warm. This didn't tell him much he didn't already know.

The action elicited a low wolf whistle and hysterical laughter though and his eyes shot open fully. He was not greeted with a view of the crimson canopy that enclosed his bed, though he wasn't particularly expecting it after he finally recognized the voices as the Weasley twins. Instead, he suspected he was staring at the Common Room ceiling.

"Harry." The voice was flat and he felt pressure on his chest as a hand used him for leverage. He tilted his head down and found himself staring at the rumpled, bushy hair of his friend. Her face was close enough that he could easily make out details and her eyes were flashing and surprisingly clear for someone who had just woken up. "You can stop feeling my bum now."

Both hands flew away from what they had been exploring like they had touched upon a red hot iron and the twins literally fell down laughing just before he heard Guinevere mutter a sleepy protest in Parseltongue. "Her rear. Mine was fine, thank you."

He resolved to find some way to make Ron's brothers pay for this, though at least the basilisk's comments couldn't have been understood by them. Or the bushy haired witch whose hand was pushing on his chest for that matter.

Cheeks flaming, Harry hastily averted his eyes and said, "Ahh... sorry, Hermione." He chanced a glance over at her and saw her own cheeks were pink as well as she hastily sat up and rearranged her clothes. She was apparently having trouble meeting his eyes as well.

"It's not your fault," she said, hastily. Her voice was considerably less chilly than a moment ago and she continued, "We all fell asleep after all. We were just tired and we'll never ever mention it again."

He glanced down at the twins still rolling around on the floor, though he was pretty sure it was just for effect at this point, then just turned and raised an eyebrow at her pointedly.

"Well, for a certain value of never," she said. Harry couldn't help it, he burst out laughing and after a moment she joined him. It felt good, even after the release and fun last night. The atmosphere at school this year, particularly after Hermione was petrified, hadn't been designed for levity.

Sitting up and pulling Guinevere along with him, he said, "Maybe we should go get cleaned up before someone else comes down and comes to the wrong conclusions." He emphasized the "wrong" strongly while nudging Fred or George with his foot and they both sat up, grinning wildly. Admittedly, he wasn't sure what conclusion the twins had come to before the hands thing, but anything that made them that amused must have been at his expense.

"Harry, Harry, there was nothing wrong with that in the least. Many men would give their right arm to be in your situation." Both twins peered at the basilisk turned girl who had simply latched on to that particular appendage on Harry and rested her head on his shoulder to apparently sleep again. They glanced over at the left and Hermione gave them the same flat stare she had given Harry earlier. "Well, perhaps not the right," George finished.

Fred nodded and said, "The left is certainly up for grabs though, since Hermione appears to be done with it." He just barely managed to duck as the muggleborn picked up a pillow and threw it at him.

The commotion finally seemed to rouse Guinevere fully and she stretched and tasted the air sleepily. "Is it next month already?" she asked, appearing confused. Harry blinked as the twins again looked fascinated, though he assumed it wasn't because of what she said so much as how.

"Next month? What are you talking about?" He vaguely recalled Piers talking about a pet snake that didn't move after eating, but a month seemed extreme.

Guinevere tilted her head towards Harry and said, "Do you not let your food digest properly? It has been ever so long, but it is very important for one to rest after a large meal." She patted her stomach with her free hand and nodded to herself, then froze. An almost panicked expression came across her face and she let go of his arm to feel at her stomach and torso. He noticed the small bulge she had had from overeating was gone.

"Someone has stolen my meal!" she exclaimed, turning to Harry. "It is probably the fake heir- she has done it because I called her, that is..." She trailed off as Harry turned his attention to her and seemed to recall that he hadn't appreciated the fighting yesterday.

"Called her what?" Harry's tried to put stern disapproval into his voice, though her honest panic was making him more amused than anything. He wasn't sure exactly how someone was supposed to have stolen a meal that she had already eaten, but he was fairly sure it wasn't quite as dire as she made it sound. He supposed it might be possible with magic though.

The snake girl muttered something under her breath, then said, "It doesn't matter, what matters is what has been stolen! My first meal in forever and a thief has taken it!"

Deciding to be a bit more conscientious of what he suspected was another knowledge gap, he said, "I'm pretty sure no one took your meal, Guinevere."

"But I am already hungry again!" she wailed and he rushed to reassure her as he saw Hermione frowning at him, presumably for making a girl cry.

"Really! It's okay, we'll get more to eat. That's perfectly normal for a human. We eat three times a day at least usually."

This caused the basilisk to pause. "Three times a day? Not year? I once had two full meals in a year and it was wonderful." Guinevere now looked like she was on the verge of crying for another reason. "Truly three times a day?"

"At least." He nodded and patted her hand, then added, "we don't sleep after we eat because of that though. In fact, if you go with Hermione-" He briefly conversed with his friend to make sure this was okay and received a quick impatient nod. "-and get cleaned up, we can go get breakfast. I'm a little hungry myself."

Extremely excited again, Guinevere jumped up and grabbed Hermione by the wrist, her tongue flicking out. Apparently recalling yesterday, she didn't dash ahead this time, but she did push the older girl ahead of her. Younger girl? Was Guinevere a thousand years old or twelve like she appeared and acted?

He shook his head and stood as the two girls moved up the stairs to the girl's dorm, then groaned as two arms looped over his shoulders and a pair of grinning faces bracketed him. As two voices said, "Harry!" in perfect unison, he wondered what he was possibly going to be able to tell the two that would satisfy their curiosity.

* * *

Escaping the twins, Harry found, was a difficult task even when they were "giving you a break, what with saving our little sister and everything". Breakfast had gone a bit more smoothly than dinner the previous night though. At least there hadn't been any pets eaten by Guinevere.

Ginny had caught up to Hermione and Guinevere in the girl's bathroom and had tagged along with a determined expression on her face when they told her that they were going down to eat shortly. Harry had also managed to wake Ron, who was so out of it that he didn't even notice Guinevere's presence until they were walking through the doors to the Great Hall- even with the twins' pointed comments. That had merely prompted a determined attempt to ignore her presence completely though.

This hadn't worked out as well as it might have, because Guinevere appeared offended that the boy was so pointedly ignoring her attempts to apologize through Harry. She couldn't actually talk to him, but she abandoned Harry's side to poke and prod at the youngest Weasley boy after he refused to acknowledge any more "Guinevere says" comments from the Boy-Who-Lived.

Harry was actually a little impressed that the snake girl had thought to make amends in the first place, but when she stopped bugging him for translations he was glad for the break. As a result of her newfound obsession, Ginny managed to slip into the space beside Harry and took the opportunity to actually engage him in small talk. It was pretty pleasant and a good way to ignore Fred on his other side and the occasional comment at his expense.

Though he did have to admit that he found it pretty funny how Ginny's cheeks heated up at some of what Fred and George said. One particularly amusing moment had been when she had asked him, very politely, if he would like some eggs and then served some to him.

"Oy, look at that, Fred," George commented, flicking a baked bean at his brother from across the table. "I haven't seen little Gin-Gin that well behaved since she was six and pulled us into a tea party."

He grinned at Ginny and her eyes widened as she caught the comment. When she raised an entire spoonful of the beans in a threatening gesture though, he mockingly mimed zipping his mouth shut. That didn't end up saving her though, because Fred simply took over where his brother had left off.

Nodding sagely to himself, Fred said, "You're not wrong, brother. As I recall, Harry Potter was the guest of honor then as well." Ginny groaned and dropped the spoon onto her plate, pushing it away and burying her head in her arms.

"I do believe you're right on that." George apparently hadn't decided to keep his mouth zipped for long. "Though as I recall, he was a bit fuzzier at the time. Not to mention the button eyes and round ears on the top of his head. Still had the glasses and scar though."

Harry choked back a laugh and patted Ginny on the shoulder comfortingly. While he was a bit discomfited by his fame he got the feeling that the young girl was feeling more embarrassed by having the teddy bear than he was about having something like that made in his image.

Apparently his gesture was enough to restore Ginny's confidence, because she pulled her head up and narrowed her eyes at her brother. Moments later, she had followed through on the implicit promise she had made when George started down this path and he found himself with a face full of beans.

The resulting food fight almost certainly would have resulted in detentions if there had been any teachers or prefects in the hall. It was early enough after a very late night though and they had it almost to themselves.

Most of the group was still laughing when they stumbled through the Fat Lady's portrait half an hour later, though Hermione was scandalized and Guinevere almost aghast at the wasted food. The latter had not escaped unscathed though, as Ron had finally lost control of his temper and taken advantage of the ruckus to plaster her hair to her head with eggs and gravy.

Harry made a few additional attempts to sneak away after they had cleaned up, having arranged to meet Ron and Hermione in the library. However, even with the Invisibility Cloak, he couldn't shake Fred and George. They inevitably showed up a couple minutes later anytime he ducked into a hiding space and there were a few times that he ducked into a particularly isolated classroom and they were actually waiting for him. That was a little creepy.

When that had happened for the third time and Harry was at least half an hour late for his meeting with his friends, he finally tore off his cloak and said, "Fine! What do you want? I told your brother I'd meet him somewhere and I kind of want to catch up with him and Hermione. Alone."

The twins grinned at him, putting away a piece of paper.

"Harry, it's not so much what we want as- ok, no, it's all about what we want really." One of them said and the other gave him a disgusted look.

"You're terrible at this, Fred." Presumably George said, then donned an affable smile and walked over to put his arm around Harry's shoulders. "Have you ever heard of twinspeak?"

Harry blinked at the nonsequitur and looked back and forth between the two Weasley brothers, confused. "Uhh, no?"

"Really? Semi-mystical language that only your twin knows?" Another shake of Harry's head. "Ahh, well, doesn't matter, it's all a load of poppy-cock anyway. At least the semi-mystical part," George added. "Seems dead useful though, doesn't it?"

Harry gave a tentative nod, wondering where they were going with this and then Fred chimed in. "Right? We never actually had anything like that ourselves, but when we heard about it when we were about 8 or 9 we tried to invent one. Took us months and months of babbling hexes with stolen wands and hard work."

"It was a thing of beauty," George said, wiping at an eye dramatically, though Harry hadn't spotted any tears. "Completely nonsensical, all original. Sounded like a pair of mice going at it with a cat in a spinning cauldron."

"Uhh... okay, sounds kind of cool," Harry admitted. Though truthfully, he wasn't entirely certain about that. "What does that have to do with me though?"

Fred scowled. "Do you know how long it took Mom to learn it?"

"A year?"

"Two days. Turns out there's a charm for learning languages." George sighed dramatically, still draped over Harry's shoulder. "We gave up on it then. Did you know there's some bloke who knows like... 150 languages or something in the Ministry? Barmy, we thought when we were developing our twinspeak, but if it only takes a couple days for each, not so bad."

Fred nodded and said, "We looked up the Charm when we got here, figured it was a useful sort of thing to know. Kind of hard to do, but we eventually pulled it off. Learned French from our second year Defense Against the Dark Arts professor just before she kicked it."

"Here's the thing though, Harry," George said with a wide grin. "The spell doesn't work on magical languages."

"'Course, those are few and far between," Fred continued without missing a beat. "Runes, of course, but that's mostly written and everyone under the sun knows the languages anyway. Defeats the point, you see. There's at least one other though, that we know of."

Harry felt a sinking sensation. "Uhh, you don't say?" he asked weakly.

"We do." Harry rather felt that the grins the twins were directing his way were probably not far off those worn by a shark before it attacked something small and helpless. And he was feeling decidedly minnow-like.

* * *

Ten minutes later, as he stepped out of the classroom, the Boy-Who-Lived decided that Tom Riddle didn't have anything on the Weasley twins when they wanted something from you.

He had tried to rally- had pointed out that he didn't actually know Parseltongue, so he couldn't really teach it properly. They had pointed out that there were now at least two people who spoke the language in the castle and it wasn't likely that both of them were natural Parselmouths given how rare they were. With Guinevere's assistance as well they were sure they could pick it up.

Besides, that was apparently why they hadn't bugged him about this earlier. Ron had told them it was completely involuntary and he couldn't really produce it on command. Luckily, they told him, his practice with Guinevere seemed to have fixed that based on what they saw this morning. He couldn't really argue this point unfortunately.

His next line of attack had been an attempt to say that Parseltongue wasn't actually magical, he just happened to know it through some fluke of magic. This was shot down even more easily, because they had apparently tried the Charm during breakfast with no results.

The fact that people could learn Farthark and the other languages in Ancient Runes also shot down his attempt to say they wouldn't be able to learn it because it was magical. Guinevere didn't help here either, given that he would rather not reveal that she really was a snake and they were still convinced she wasn't a natural speaker. Something about the way the language charm reacted apparently.

Attempts to say he would get nothing out of it revealed they had figured out at least part of the reason Guinevere was in Gryffindor and they had promised to take her off his hands from time to time. Plus keep quiet about his rather daring escapades the night of the party. Harry felt Hermione might appreciate the latter and he couldn't deny the former would probably come in handy. Though if he had anything to say about it, Guinevere was learning English as soon as possible.

He had one small triumph though- they had made him promise not to teach any of the other Weasleys at least, even Ron, and especially their mother and father. He had been able to say with a straight face that he could agree to that.

It should be fun to hear from Ginny what they were trying to keep quiet from their family. He would have to give her a heads up when the twins started making progress with the language next year. And it should be particularly fun when they were actually fluent and using it regularly with each other.

He had also extracted a promise of his own to teach him the language charm next year. One quick demonstration in the classroom had convinced him he wasn't going to pick it up before the end of the term.

At any rate, that was over for now. All he had to do at this point was see if Ron and Hermione were still at the library like they had planned. He could worry about his promise to the twins later.

* * *

Without needing to hide his movement, he was able to make it to the first floor quickly enough and found that his friends were still there. Ron had already been drafted and the trio's normal table was piled high with books.

When Harry finally showed up, his best friend was more than happy to pull Hermione away from her books and retreat into the stacks for a bit more privacy. Even with exams cancelled, there were still quite a few 5th and 7th years wandering around the library.

It hadn't taken quite as long to explain yesterday as Harry had thought it might, particularly since Ron didn't have quite as many questions for him as Hermione despite what looked like a desperate attempt to think of some in order to put off the inevitable doom they both saw coming. With Hermione distracted by the books she had already put together based on their earlier talk, however, it wasn't long before they were trooping back to their table.

They had been rapidly put to work by Hermione going through the books she had chosen to try and find some of the information they were missing about the whole thing. That had really just started, but Harry already felt like he was missing something after he sat down with his first choice. Possibly something important too, because it was really nagging at him. He wasn't sure if it was something he had forgotten to tell his friends or maybe something related to the twins. Trying to escape them had distracted him quite a bit.

Setting his book down, Harry frowned and looked over his friends, trying to put his finger on what was bugging him.

The scene wasn't far off of what they had been doing since the Petrifications began, but he didn't think that was it. After all, after identifying the basilisk and then-

Harry froze.

"Hermione. Where is Guinevere?"

"Hmm...?" Hermione looked up distractedly, her hand absentmindedly marking her spot on the page. "Guinevere? Oh, yes, I left her in the dorms after we all bathed. She seemed a bit sleepy, so I assume she's taking a nap. Though obviously I couldn't say for sure with the language barrier."

Ron glanced up, looking happy for the distraction from books they had thought they were done with for the semester given that the exams had been cancelled. "Oh, you mean with Ginny? I told her she couldn't come straight out. Thought I was going to catch a hex in the nose for a minute, but she just stomped up the stairs to her dorm. She's certainly back in form. Probably going to catch hell from her this summer to make up for missing out on the whole 'Possessed by Voldemort' thing."

Guinevere and Ginny, left in close confines for over an hour with no supervision. Yes, that was definitely what he had been missing.


	4. Chapter 4

As Harry and Ron rushed back through the corridors to the Gryffindor dorm, he tried not to think about what kind of damage Ginny and Guinevere could cause after being left alone together. They had needed to pull the two apart no less than three times already in the course of a single day.

He wasn't too concerned about Ginny doing anything lasting to Guinevere, not really, but Guinevere still seemed to be working on the whole human thing. He hadn't gotten to the not biting and killing your rivals part, which seemed like an obvious oversight now that he was thinking about it. While Ron would eventually forgive him for Scabbers, he was pretty sure that transfiguring a basilisk into someone who did in his little sister would probably end their friendship for good.

He had needed to explain himself to his friends when he jumped up in the library and shouted that he had to leave now. And he might have been a bit loud. Maybe more than a bit, since the outburst had gotten the three of them banned from the library for the rest of the year. Even before that, Hermione had been dismissing the threat, saying that he was just being silly and paranoid, but Ron had jumped on board after the Scabbers incident.

After Madame Pince's pronouncement Hermione had been more than a bit upset with him and had refused to go along, choosing instead to try and argue her case about a lack of library access being cruel and unusual punishment, despite the fact that they had no more homework or exams for the last week they would be here.

His thoughts were interrupted as he and Ron saw the portrait of the Fat Lady coming up and both shouted the password at the same time. Her eyes widening as she saw the two of them were failing to slow down, she hastily opened and they jumped through the hole. Harry couldn't help flashing a grin at his friend as they charged through the Common Room afterwards and Ron returned it as they charged the stairs and began taking them three at a time.

They were almost to the first floor landing when a loud siren went off and the stairs abruptly flattened into a slide. Exchanging startled glances with Ron as he abruptly remembered the warning from the beginning of first year about the girl's dorms, his friend yelled, "Bollocks!" before his feet slipped out from under him and he landed on his stomach and began to slide down the chute.

Harry, being in front of Ron was closer to the landing and actually threw himself forward rather than allowing the ridiculously slippery surface to pull his feet out from under him. His momentum and the slick stone actually managed to send him up the slide several more feet and he scrambled to grab the door frame as he slid to a stop and started to reverse.

Panting, he hung by his fingers from the rough stone for a moment, then used the muscles that Quidditch had been helping him to develop and pulled himself up and off of the slide, tumbling into the first year's room. Flopping onto his back, he took a minute to let himself finish catching his breath and then realized as he opened his eyes that he was face to face with Guinevere. Which was a little odd given his position.

The green-haired girl was actually plastered against the ceiling somehow and was hissing angrily in Parseltongue in response to shouted comments in English that he hadn't heard from out in the stairwell. Some kind of magic that blocked the sound he supposed. He had never noticed that before, unless it was unique to the girl's side of the dorms or Ginny had done it.

Given that he could no longer hear the alarms either, he suspected it might be the latter. He rather thought those were supposed to be for the girls' benefit. It wasn't anything they had learned in first year, though he supposed with 6 older brothers Ginny's mom might have taught her something to help get a little privacy.

Neither girl in the room appeared to have noticed his entrance in the middle of their argument, so he heard a bit more than he wanted while he caught his breath. They hadn't killed each other and the room was only slightly destroyed with various items a 12 year old girl might be able to throw lining each wall, so he could afford the time. It appeared to be Ginny's turn, though he wasn't quite sure what she was responding to.

"You weren't doing any such thing! Harry saved me, you were just... just trying to suck up or something!" Ginny's eyes flashed from where she knelt on her bed, wand pointed at Guinevere and trembling slightly. He assumed from holding the basilisk turned girl up... somehow. He'd have to point Hermione at her.

Guinevere sniffed in response to the comment and said, "You are just upset that I chose the new Master over a fake like you..." She paused, then added slyly, "And that he chose me." Parseltongue, not too surprisingly, was very good at insinuation and she might as well have said outright that Ginny hadn't been selected for the kissing she had witnessed earlier.

Ginny's eyes narrowed and she said, "Harry hasn't chosen anything. You were an accident! And forcing yourself on him!"

"Take that back!" the basilisk hissed. She began struggling again and Ginny's eyes tightened slightly as her hand shook, though it didn't show in her voice.

"It's true, I heard the story! You were accidental magic!" Her temper seemed to have her in full grip and she hissed out the last in Parseltongue, probably to rub it in further, since she slipped back into English a moment later. "You're not even a witch, so you can't go to Hogwarts! They're probably going to send you to live with Hagrid in the forest or something next year while I come back to learn magic and be with Harry."

Guinevere seemed to deflate at that as her struggles stopped abruptly, however, the damage had apparently been done, because there was an abrupt sound of tearing clothing as her weight settled. Ginny's eyes widened and she said, "My clothes!" She started to lower the girl, then she abruptly released whatever spell she was using letting Guinevere drop as that didn't seem to stop the tearing sound- right onto Harry, of course.

He whuffed as the work he had done on getting his breathing back under control was abruptly negated by the slight girl dropping onto him from nearly five foot up. The snake girl's tongue flicked out once as she landed considerably more softly than she was apparently expecting and she smiled abruptly.

"Master! You saved me!" She turned and stuck her tongue out in Ginny's direction and he rolled his eyes back to see the youngest Weasley's eyes widen as she saw him there for the first time.

"Harry!?"

This was about all Harry had a chance to hear before his eyes abruptly widened and Guinevere was sent tumbling off of him as he was whisked out into the stairwell. Finding himself dangling from one foot in the air, he was confronted by Laura Endwell, the 7th year girl's prefect, with a more than displeased expression on her face.

The alarm abruptly stopped as he lost contact with the floor and the stairs slowly began to take form again, making him wonder how Laura had managed to avoid sliding down to the Common Room even as he gave her a weak smile.

"Have an explanation, Harry?" she asked, her eyebrow arching. When he only continued to softly wheeze and couldn't manage to get out a word of explanation, she just shook her head in disgust. "You're 12, Harry. Seriously, what are you doing?" She glanced in to see the other two and then said, "You know what, it doesn't matter. McGonagal can sort it out. I have two weeks left before I graduate and NEWTs to prepare for. I don't have time for pre-teen shenanigans."

"You two, out here, now!" When neither of the two girl's in the dorm responded to her command, Laura's eyebrows rose and then she waved her wand abruptly and said, "Finite."

The spell protecting the room abruptly came to an end and the apparently continuing argument was abruptly audible.

"-fault this happened. Now Harry is going to get in trou..." Ginny looked up as the prefect cleared her throat and trailed off.

The near adult smiled a little nastily and said, "He's not the only one. Out, both of you, now." She glanced back at Harry and he hastily cleared his throat and repeated the instructions for Guinevere, having managed to catch his breath for the second time.

Ginny looked surprised for a moment, but slumped and followed along with the snake girl busy trying to hold her clothes together as all four individuals trooped down the stairs. Harry didn't find it a reassuring sight to get to the bottom of the stairs and see Ron trussed up like a Christmas turkey. His best friend gave him a worried look and then gasped indignantly as he was also hoisted into the air.

With the two girl's trailing along behind meekly, Harry could only guess at what was going to come out of this when they got to McGonagal's office. He winced as the twins giving him a surreptitious thumbs up reminded him that he already had another detention for something not far off of this. You could pretty much assume anything that Fred and George approved of was likely to get you a detention at the minimum.

He was fairly sure his evenings for the last week or two of school were not going to be pleasant.


	5. Chapter 5

Exchanging looks with Ron, Guinevere and Ginny, Harry wondered absently how much trouble he would be in if he just left while Laura was alone in McGonagal's office. He wasn't sure how to explain his run into the girl's dorm without saying that he was trying to prevent Guinevere from eating Ginny. He was almost to the point of getting up and trying to make a run for it despite the bindings when the door opened.

Stepping out, McGonagal saw the trussed up boys and the two girls, one of whom was still trying to hold her clothing together and sighed. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she turned to the prefect stepping out behind her and said, "Really, Ms. Endwell? Was the Incarcerous truly a necessity?"

The young woman's cheeks pinked slightly. "Maybe not." She quickly dismissed the spell on himself and Ron and then beat a hasty retreat.

The head of Gryffindor sighed and gestured the four children into her office, closing the door after they had entered and leaving them to stand before her desk as she moved behind it again and sat down.

For a minute, there was silence as McGonagal sat staring at the four of them, her fingers steepled in front of her, and he was beginning to wonder if he should say something.

"Mr. Potter!" Harry jumped as his head of House's voice cracked out like a whip and he felt a sudden surge of irrational guilt. Sort of irrational anyway, it wasn't like he had been sneaking into the girl's dorms for nefarious purposes.

"What has possessed you? First that abominable display in my office with young Guinevere and now I find you sneaking into the first year's dorms? If I didn't know any better, I would think your father had taken your place."

Harry blinked. That was the second time McGonagal had said something like that about his dad- he kind of wanted to ask about it, but now was probably not the time. As it was McGonagal was looking rather annoyed by Ginny and Ron, who had stepped together and were whispering to each other after her pronouncement.

"Well?" While he was sure the question was directed at him, the glare of the Scottish woman quickly silenced Ginny and Ron.

Realizing he had been silent for longer than was probably appropriate after having been asked a question by a teacher, the accused boy said, "Well, uh, we just got a bit excited and forgot about the girl's dorm protection thing."

That sounded reasonable, he thought, though when the professor kept staring at him he felt compelled to continue explaining. "I had... forgotten about Guinevere you see, and..." He trailed off, searching for some reason that wouldn't get the girls in trouble. More trouble.

"He's uh, the only one who can understand her, right?" Ron chimed in, glancing over at the girl with the antagonism he'd been expressing lately mostly muted.

Harry seized on the excuse gratefully. "Right. You said that she was my responsibility, so I had to get back as soon as possible after I remembered."

A raised eyebrow greeted this and Harry smiled weakly in response. "You do have a female friend if I am not mistaken."

"Ahh... Hermione was arguing with Madame Pince about us being banned from the library..."

"Of course she was." McGonagal sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Perhaps your numerous housemates who would no doubt have been happy to go up and fetch Guinevere if needed?"

Harry nodded, but decided against saying anything.

Turning her attention to the other three, McGonagal asked if they had anything to contribute and at a head shake from each said, "Very well. Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, you will both receive two nights of detention. I very much doubt this was anything other than a lack of thought, but prudence and attention to detail are something that need to be cultivated. Perhaps a couple nights of helping Mr. Filch with his summer cleaning plans will assist in that.

"Miss Weasley, that was a very impressive privacy charm for your age, but I would keep them more localized in the future. Prefects tend to assume the worst when you are hiding what is happening in an entire room. In light of your recent troubles, I will not assign detections, but I will need to inform your parents."

Ginny had perked up slightly at the lack of punishment, but when the Gryffindor Head mentioned her mother she drooped noticeably.

"Miss... Lyonesse?" This was said with a definite measure of probing skepticism, particularly when Guinevere tilted her head and tested the air for other students before realizing that she was being addressed. "While you are not technically a student, I would appreciate it if you held yourself with a bit more decorum around those who are. Your position was noted as rather inappropriate when Ms. Endwell found you."

A glance towards Harry had him exclaiming, "That was an accident!" A moment later when he realized Guinevere had responded, he realized that McGonagal had actually wanted him to translate though, so he did so quickly. That seemed to complete the meeting after he passed along Guinevere's agreement and they were all expelled from the room unceremoniously.

"Well, that could have gone worse." Ron grinned at Harry after he spoke, then grabbed his shin and started hopping around the hall when Ginny kicked him.

The youngest Weasley started to yell, then glanced back at the office still not far behind them and whispered fiercely instead. "Speak for yourself. I'm going to be lucky if Mom doesn't send me a Howler for having a boy in my dorm room. I'll be grounded for a month."

Ron scoffed. "She's not going to do that, you're her favorite. It's just Harry anyway, what does she think you're going to do with him?"

Ginny just rolled her eyes at that and dropped it. Harry shrugged and shared a look with his best friend.

The four of them walked most of the rest of the way to Gryffindor in silence. As they were climbing the final set of stairs though, Ginny abruptly stopped resulting in Harry bumping into her as he stepped up. Turning, she smiled at him, though for some reason he couldn't quite pinpoint the expression made him shiver a little, and asked, "What kind of abominable display in her office was it, Harry?"

"Hey, yeah, I forgot about that. What'd you do to get McGonagal so ticked?" Ron asked.

This prompted Guinevere to peek around Harry. "We kissed," she said slyly, her face turned towards Ginny and mostly ignoring Ron.

"It wasn't me," Harry protested. He wasn't quite quick enough to interrupt the transformed basilisk's comment though.

Ron looked at him skeptically. "What wasn't you? We don't speak hiss, remember?" Ginny apparently had not, because she had looked to be about ready to protest. The betrayed look on her face as she held her tongue made Harry feel pretty bad though, so he took the time to explain.

"I, uh, might have skipped over that bit when I told you and Hermione about it. I was kind of distracted by the whole you-know-what thing-" He glanced at Ron and his friend nodded his understanding. "-and Guinevere sort of kissed me again. In front of McGonagal."

His friend made a disgusted expression, which understandably annoyed the transformed girl behind Harry. Ginny also took this as an opportunity to explode at Guinevere again and he and Ron were hard pressed to keep them apart, though he took this as a good opportunity to explain in Parseltongue that teeth, tongues, and lips were to be kept out of all fights.

By the end, Ginny was reduced to pointing her finger at Harry and exclaiming, "Well he owes me a favor too! And I'm going to get a kiss!"

While imperfect, a truce was struck and they finally made it back to the dorms. There they found Hermione nearly in tears and unwilling to even speak to Harry and Ron. It turned out that Pince was even less forgiving than they had thought, because Hermione had managed to argue herself into a ban on library privileges for the first week of next year as well.

Ginny commiserated on their behalf while he and Ron hovered uselessly in the background. Harry felt guilty, since he was well aware of the fact that this was his fault. As he was about to leave for his first detention, Hermione finally forgave him and Ron.

"It's my own fault too, I shouldn't have argued and made it worse. And definitely should not have called her an autocratic dictator." The last was muttered under her breath and likely not intended for the rest of them, but by this point the twins had shown up and George had been close enough to hear.

Needless to say, it was immediately repeated incredulously and Hermione was cheered by the pair while she protested.

As he was rushing out of the portrait, telling the girl that he still felt he owed her since he had yelled first, he heard Ron ask, "You're not going to go crazy and ask him to kiss you too, are you?" He didn't hear the response, but as he looked back he saw Hermione reddening as George and Fred collapsed on the floor again in laughter and their brother asked what was so funny.

Deciding that he would just have to let it be as the Fat Lady closed, he trudged off to meet McGonagal.

* * *

While he felt a little guilty about thinking it, Harry felt it was just as well that the three of them had been kicked out of the library for this last week of schooling. Without exams, they had tons of free time even with the detentions that he and Ron had earned and the whether was beautiful.

He was in fact almost looking forward to his detentions with Filch at the end of the week just to dull the memory of the last one with their Head of House. A casual question about whether Vernon Dursley had taught him about the birds and the bees had gotten a blank stare by him and he had truthfully said that the fat man hadn't taught him anything in a decade.

That had been a mistake. A dreadful, terrible mistake.

McGonagal had tutted and told him to forget about the lines that he was writing out. That they would be having an impromptu class instead. This had seemed like a good deal at the time, because she was generally a good teacher- she made things interesting and always had great examples, even when they were learning about something that seemed kind of silly.

The three hours following that had been a horribly thorough education on sex, health, and consequences with a capital 'C'. Like her classes, she illustrated things with transfiguration. However, having grown up in a slightly more... restrained society, it had all been done with metaphor. Graphically, graphically illustrated metaphor.

He was pretty sure he would never look at a quill and inkwell the same way again.

And the less that was said on magical diseases the better. They made things fall off. Or swell up. There was puss and- just no. He was pretty sure he wouldn't even be touching a girl again until he had the charms that he had been taught down to a fine art.

By the time he escaped, Harry was pretty sure his ears had been permanently stained red with embarrassment and truth be told McGonagal had been almost as red despite going through the speech in a no-nonsense tone that brooked no shenanigans or snickering. Apparently this type of thing was normally passed on to Hagrid for boys, but she felt that "given his father" (again) it was perhaps best that she do it herself.

Harry had snuck back into the dorm while everyone was at dinner, not particularly wanting to face his friends and tell them about his detention. Complaining about them was par for the course typically and he wanted to not be blushing when he lied through his teeth and said he had to write endless, gloriously boring lines. Being able to look Ginny, Hermione, and Guinevere in the eyes would be good as well.

Pretending to sleep when Ron and the others got back to the dorm had led into real sleep soon enough. His dreams that night had been both surreal and yet tinged with some of the same feelings he felt when Guinevere kissed him somehow. He was just glad he didn't usually remember dreams very well.

He was starving after having missed dinner the previous night and didn't feel proud of having lied about both his detention and not feeling well, but the worse thing was that Hermione had guessed somehow the following morning. She had apparently recognized the shell-shocked expression from several girls in her year and the one above whose parents weren't very diligent about this sort of thing.

She had also been exposed to the "consequences" portion of the speech herself, being muggleborn. Apparently time healed all wounds though, because she had been giggling the entire time she patted him on the back and offered her condolences.

Still, if one had to deal with traumatic memories, May at Hogwarts was not a bad time at all to be doing that. There was loads of sunshine, they got to go swimming and classes were largely light where they hadn't been cancelled altogether.

The situation with Guinevere received quite a lot of discussion between the faculty apparently and it was finally officially decided that she would go home with Harry. He wasn't sure whether to look forward to the expression on the Dursley's face when Dumbledore showed up to drop yet another magical child on their doorstep or dread the response after the Headmaster was gone.

He finally decided that he could do both, but he focused upon the former as a happy thought.

Guinevere was of necessity an addition to the trio of second year Gryffindors, since she couldn't communicate with anyone but Harry and secretly Ginny. Ron's sister was determined to be with Harry them all as much as possible too though and she typically dragged Guinevere off when she went to class on the basis that Pomphrey had said they were the same age. And if she couldn't be with Harry then neither could the transformed basilisk.

Harry hadn't quite had the heart to tell her that Guinevere would be living with him this summer and he suspected he would probably put that off entirely if he could. He hadn't even told the basilisk directly, almost entirely so she didn't rub it in the red-headed girl's nose.

When they were finally on the Hogwart's Express, Harry thought he had managed to dodge that spell entirely until he excused himself from their games of Exploding Snap to go to the bathroom and get some snacks. When he was on his way back, he found himself confronted by a quiet Ginny blocking the hall.

"Uh, hullo," he said, feeling slightly inane since they had just been hanging out together not more than five minutes ago, but not really knowing what else to say since the girl was being a little odd.

Ducking her head, Ginny mumbled something, then pinched herself and took a deep breath before starting again. "Hi, Harry. Can I... talk to you? Maybe in here?" She stepped back and revealed an empty compartment, presumably left that way because friends were bunched up trying to get a last few hours together before they went home.

Shrugging, he stepped inside the compartment. "Sure. What did you want to talk about?"

Ginny followed after looking each way briefly and cast a quick privacy charm when she got in, then looked him in the eye with a determined gaze that flickered briefly into insecurity before firming up again. He smiled reassuringly and she seemed to take strength from that. "A week ago, when Guinevere and I had that fight..."

"Which one," he asked dryly.

This got a quick grin from Ginny. "The one in the stairwell, after we met with McGonagal."

Harry cast back to that and nodded, remembering it.

"I, uh, said something at the end of that. About the favor you said you'd owe me." Ginny looked down again and her cheeks had a definite flush to them when she looked up again. Harry frowned for a moment, then his eyes widened as he remembered what she had said. "I just wanted to let you know. I won't use it for that. I..."

She took another deep breath and looked up at him with an almost breathtaking amount of sincerity. "I'd really like to try it, but if you don't want to do it I won't force things."

For a moment, the speech by McGonagal flew through his mind and he was on the verge of refusing. Still, say what he might about the education he had received that night and the horrible things he had to experience, his head of house hadn't done it to scare him. She had been brutally honest and he knew a kiss wasn't going to lead to the consequences she had outlined.

Which left him with what he felt. He really did like the girl before him, he had technically met her nearly two years ago now, but it was only recently that he felt he had gotten to know her as a friend. She and Guinevere had slotted themselves into his circle of friends almost effortlessly.

She trembled a little and he realized he had been staring at her for far too long without saying anything. Wetting his lips, he said, "I wouldn't mind I guess." Not exactly a stunning declaration of love, but they were both way too young to be thinking of that and he didn't think she really expected it anyway.

Leaning forward, he felt their noses bump together and he felt her head tilt slightly then they were kissing. It was... a little awkward compared to when Guinevere had kissed him, but he thought that was mainly because he was thinking about it. It was nice.

After a minute he pulled away and so did Ginny. They exchanged shy smiles, but before he could decide on something appropriate to say Ginny squeaked something he didn't quite catch, pulled the door open, and darted away.

Harry made his way back to their compartment and the rest of the trip passed way too fast. Ginny eventually showed up again with her friend Luna and even the pointed comments by Guinevere about not seeing Harry for the summer didn't ruffle the girl.

Arriving at the station, the kids all piled out of the train and Hermione, Guinevere, and he waved goodbye to the Weasleys as they left and shortly after the bushy haired girl made her own farewells.

Left behind, Harry looked around for the Dursleys then he and Guinevere both jumped as Dumbledore appeared before them suddenly. Smiling genially, he said, "I took the liberty of informing your guardians that they need not pick you up. I thought perhaps this discussion would be better handled at your house rather than in public."

Harry grinned. Dumbledore, the most wizardly wizard he knew, coming to the Dursley's house to tell them he wanted them to take in a 30 foot long snake that had been turned into a 12 year old girl. This was going to be a great capstone to the school year.


	6. Chapter 6

A frisson of amusement caused the corners of Dumbledore's eyes to wrinkle as young Harry began grinning in a manner not unlike his father. He might not have made the connection were it not for Minerva's complaints in the last week or so- he did his best not to judge his current students by the parents he had taught before them. Harry seemed to get into more than his fair share of problems he admitted, if perhaps not quite so many as James, but his Deputy Headmistress had been reassured in the fact that he did not seem to cause them.

She was less assured after the past week or two and had begun taking steps to prepare should the worst happen (in her words). He assumed that meant a new set of Marauders coming into their own at the same time as the delightful Weasley twins.

Coughing lightly, he asked, "Have you had the opportunity to Apparate before, Harry? Guinevere?"

A hissing comment stemmed from the poor blind girl and was responded to by Harry a moment later. Dumbledore was quite tempted to try a touch of Legilemency to pick up on what the boy was saying, but he held off. He would not go so far as to say that he had never used the skill on a student, but idle curiosity and a desire to learn were not valid reasons to his mind.

He would simply have to find another route to learn Parseltongue over the summer. The diary that young Harry had presented him had confirmed several of his more dire predictions requiring Voldemort and he suspected that it would be a necessity to pursue his research further.

If it also happened to allow him to understand conversations that were taking place between students, well, that was simply happy fortune.

"No, I haven't, Professor Dumbledore."

Interesting. He would have expected a question about what Apparition was from a second year student who had grown up in the Muggle world. A tidbit dropped by the estimable Miss Granger? His eyes flicked briefly to Guinevere. Or perhaps the girl understood more than they had expected. Given her age he had thought she spoke Old English or another variant on their language so divorced from modern dialects as to be a separate language.

No matter, a puzzle for another time. He put on a slightly grave expression and let his voice assume an apologetic tone. "I am afraid this may come as a slight shock then. Apparition can be a discomfiting experience and the first time is frequently the worst."

"If you would not mind, please give me your hands and we shall get it over with post haste." He held out one hand to Harry and another to Guinevere and was interested to see the girl's tongue flicker out not unlike the serpent she had recently been. Her hand went to his not quite unerringly, but certainly with less fumbling then one who had been recently blinded might be expected to incur.

The details of Mr. Potter's accidental transfiguration were something he quite wished he could take more time to study. Even after they had dismissed the possibility of human transfiguration, the duration of the original and the traits that the girl had kept made for a fascinating case study. Alas, the recent activity of Voldemort and the insights his diary had meant he would not have the time to do so himself.

He had given Minerva permission to observe the girl surreptitiously though and he looked forward to her observations when they returned for the next school year.

When Harry's hand had found his as well, displaying perhaps less than the perfect trust of a child in his hesitance sadly, he simply said, "Brace yourselves." Giving his young charges a few seconds to do so, he went through the steps that were second nature after a hundred and more years of Apparating and found himself on the street outside Number 4 Privet Drive.

Letting the two young people's hands drop, he briefly flicked his wand into his hand and performed a complex series of movements that ended with an array of runes fading into sight as his vision was tinged with purple at the edges.

While he had instruments that measured the wards in his office, it was good to take a direct look himself periodically. The Notice-Me-Not charm that he had cast upon himself, Harry, and Guinevere before he even spoke to the pair of children was visible, but he dismissed it from his consideration.

Harry in the mean time, had bent over and was gasping. "That was awful!"

Guinevere patted him on the back sympathetically, but was looking quite pale herself and swallowing convulsively.

"Well done though, my boy. And Guinevere as well, of course. Many end up vomiting after their first experience with Apparition."

"I can see why," Harry said between gulping deep breaths of air. "Does it get better?"

"One grows accustomed to the sensation, certainly." Albus smiled as the two children began conversing rapidly, Harry's excitement growing now that the worst of the effects had passed. Taking that moment of distraction as an opportunity, he turned his attention back to the blood wards on the property and their interaction with Harry.

He was surprised to find them stronger than he would have expected after the boy had been away from his family for the full school year. While not drastically outside of the norms he might have expected, they were markedly higher than when he had validated them the year before.

Possibly a result of Harry not having a direct encounter with Voldemort this year? That was a concern, if so, as it implied they might be broken should enough strain be put upon them towards the end of the year.

Dismissing his spell after a moment, he made a mental note to look into the matter sometime during the summer and turned to the pair. Harry had what he would judge to be a mixed expression on his face, but marched up to the door after a moment and knocked. Dumbledore and Guinevere followed behind.

When the door finally opened, a somewhat rotund boy was looking out of the door. Blinking, he stuck his head out the door and looked to either side before shrugging and closing the door. Harry watched this with a somewhat bemused expression and immediately knocked on the door again. The process repeated itself when Harry knocked again immediately, his young charges chortling at the reddened face of the boy as he slammed the door shut after yelling something rather uncouth. Guinevere knocked this time as Harry was too busy muffling his laughter.

When the door opened this time, Dumbledore cancelled the Notice-Me-Not charm. Eyes widening at the sight of Harry and presumably himself and young Guinevere appearing out of nowhere, he shouted, "Mum! Harry's here and he's brought those magic people!" He then turned and ran, holding his hands over his rear for some reason.

Petunia walked out of the kitchen, her face tight and pinched, and her son hid himself behind her.

Stalking up to the door, he noted her step falter as she noticed him standing behind Harry, but she soon got hold of herself and resumed her determined progress. "Well, I can't say I was expecting you. Thought it would be those redheads dropping the boy off. Have another child you wish to pawn off on us?"

This elicited a snicker from Harry and Petunia eyed him sharply, and then her eyes caught on Guinevere as she finally came close enough to see her slightly to one side of the door and widened in alarm.

Dumbledore smiled apologetically, but he didn't get a chance to say anything as the woman blurted out, "No! Never! You won't foist another child off on us and then just go your merry way!" Her eyes narrowed and she actually reached out and poked him in the chest. A raised eyebrow caused her to pale and snatch her hand back, but she continued on nonetheless. "I'm certain this one's not Lily's get and I've no reason to take her in, let alone try and explain it to Vernon."

Smiling one of his most genial smiles, Dumbledore said, "If you wouldn't mind letting us in, I can explain everything and I'm sure you'll understand the need."

"No! You stay out there. You're not to come a step into this house!"

Harry grinned again, somewhat slyly he though, and said, "Really, Aunt Petunia? You're sure?"

His aunt gave him a sharp look, her eyes lingering somewhat distastefully on the rather splendid purple and puce robes he had purchased a week or two ago, and Dumbledore watched with some interest as she paled when young Mister Potter leaned forward and whispered something to her. The woman's eyes flashed beyond the trio at her door and her face flushed before she stepped back and pulled the door wide.

"Fine then. Hurry, in the living room only if you please!"

Her son immediately ran, pulling open a smallish door in the hall leading to the kitchen and hiding behind it, perhaps a cupboard or something. He thought there might be a story to the skittishness, but unfortunately all too many Muggles felt that way when exposed to the Wizarding World. Perhaps a bad experience with Harry's accidental magic when he was younger.

Guiding young Guinevere with a single hand on her shoulder, Dumbledore made his way into the living room and guided her to the couch then took a seat himself. Harry on the other hand stepped aside upon entering the room and leaned against the wall as if he wanted to be able to see everything. His lips were twitching again and he received a sharp glare from Petunia as she walked in and sat across from the other pair.

Choosing his words with some care, Dumbledore said, "It is a pleasure to meet you face to face again. I believe it was at Lily and James' wedding that we last spoke."

This provoked a sour expression from the woman across the coffee table and he abruptly recalled that there had been some type of kerfluffle with her and her husband. Perhaps not the best memory to bring up. He moved on.

"Now, to begin I would like to introduce you to young Guinevere. She has, I am sad to say, experienced some difficulties and was recently rescued by Harry here."

"And what does this have to do with me?" Petunia's tone was a touch petulant and Dumbledore was surprised again by the prickly woman's reaction. Perhaps he shouldn't have reminded the woman of that night. If he recalled correctly, Sirius Black had been involved in the prank played upon the Muggle couple and given the ties he later showed to the Death Eaters... well, perhaps it was something more than he had been told at the time.

"I am getting to that." He took a slightly more conciliatory approach. "You see, Guinevere here speaks a language that very few in the world understand." True enough and the major reason they had even decided to approach this in the first place. He would rather not put the girl through another three months of social isolation without whatever buffering effect the transfiguration might have provided. "Your nephew is one of them. The only one that we are familiar with and have ready access to, in point of fact."

"Harry? Harry speaks another language?" Her tone was sharp, disbelieving. "He's never been exposed to anything but the Queen's English. Where should he have learned it?"

"Ahh, a long story perhaps in its entirety, but in short, he picked it up from his first year Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor." Dumbledore's eyes crinkled slightly and he felt his lips curve into a slightly self-satisfied smile. It was perhaps a touch of hubris, but he still delighted at times in a clever turn of phrase or making a truth serve a purpose perhaps not quite in its natural wheelhouse. A failing of his, but not one that he had significantly improved upon since his younger days.

He thought perhaps that Harry had caught it, he was the only one in the room equipped with the knowledge to do so, but it caused his aunt to scowl regardless. "I don't believe it!"

"Pardon?" Outright denial of his statements wasn't something he was particularly familiar with after all these years. Even his staunchest opponents in the Wizengamot typically attempted to undermine him in methods that didn't call into question his authority or honesty. At least to his face.

"I said I don't believe you." Petunia huffed, her eyes narrowed. "The boy has shown no academic aptitude at all during his time with us. I hardly think he could pick up an entire language in one year."

Raising an eyebrow, Dumbledore said mildly, "Perhaps the wrong fit in schools then. From what I understand, Harry is doing quite well at Hogwarts." This was said almost simultaneously with an offended and prolonged series of hisses from Guinevere.

The latter drew a startled gaze from Mrs. Dursley. "Why... why is she hissing?" Her chair scooted back slightly as she drew away from the basilisk turned girl.

"Hissing? Ahh, I'm afraid you misunderstand. That is the language that I spoke of with you." This statement drew another incredulous stare from the young woman. To be fair, he understood that as this was... while true, even more misleading than his last statement. And his next comment was going to be rather exaggerated. "Not unlike Ubykh," he stated, thoughts flashing back to a time somewhat before the great war when he and Gellert had encountered one another in Eastern Europe. The memory was understandably bittersweet, but they had spent some time in a village in the Ottoman Empire where the language was spoken extensively and it did have its share of sibilants. Alas, the end of that month had done little to convince him that Gellert had changed and quite a bit to lead him towards the conclusion that his old friend was as dangerous as he had feared.

Putting the thoughts of the man currently imprisoned in Nuremgard behind him as they always made him rather melancholy, he smiled at the Muggle woman in front of him placidly even as she sputtered.

"How can you say that with a straight face, you... you..." Her eyes flicked down to the wand he still held out and then she slumped. Abandoning the attempt, she spun on Harry and pointed one long bony finger in his direction. Perhaps a bit unfairly for her, Harry interrupted with a prolonged series of hisses that made the woman pale and actually made Guinevere laugh. Petunia's arm slumped again and he thought he heard a sharp intake of breath from the hall where Harry's cousin was presumably eavesdropping.

"There you are." Dumbledore clapped his hands, smiling broadly at all involved. "As you can see, Harry can in fact speak with Guinevere. I will take my leave, but should you have any problems at all, do be sure to send an owl and I'll get back to you as soon as possible." He stood up, brushing his hands off and putting his wand away with a practiced motion.

At his words, Petunia jumped to her feet, eyes wild and panicked and shouted, "No! Never! We... we haven't the room you see. And... and the money. Certainly the budget won't bear another mouth." Her lips pursed together, her eyes daring him to refute her words. He thought it possible, but refrained. He was certainly far from an expert on Muggles. The home was certainly larger than the one he had shared with his mother and Ariana in Godric's Hallow. Though that was over a hundred years ago, he supposed that standards might have changed.

Bringing a hand to his beard, Dumbledore gave this some thought, his hand stroking the white length. "I could certainly see the space being an issue. Let's see about fixing that and then I can get out of your hair."

"What?" Petunia blinked at him and he thought back to the little he had seen of the house. Recalling the door that the portly boy had been hiding behind he swept out of the living room with a redfaced Petunia chasing close behind followed closely by Harry and then Guinevere. Harry's cousin rapidly fled up the stairs as approached and Dumbledore made a mental note to find out what had so spooked the boy. He rather prided himself on being avuncular and easy to approach for children.

Opening the door, he leaned down to peer into the small space, then turned abruptly and said, "An unused cupboard under the stairs it appears?" Petunia's face drained of color for some reason as Harry choked and she simply nodded slightly, appearing faint. Perhaps he should have Pomfrey stop by to ensure the women didn't have a condition of some kind. If her face was any judge she appeared to be having hot and cold flashes or something of the sort. At any rate, taking the nod for permission he pulled his wand free again and took no little time examining the space with the careful eye of a Transfiguration Master.

Glancing past the woman, he looked over Guinevere and decided the door was a touch short for the girl, particularly if she should come back here next year after growing. A wave of his wand fixed that, the door shooting up to a height of perhaps six feet. With a few taps of his wand he shifted it further to the left so that the stairs didn't have such a hump and then nodded to himself and turned his attention to the interior. An extremely complicated little twist, swish, and dip of his wand allowed him to apply a most adequate Extension Charm upon the interior of the closet and it expanded into a room perhaps twenty foot by twenty foot. Certainly spacious enough for a young teenager to live in he thought.

An additional wave of his wand caused the walls to assume a pleasant shade of green with cedar paneling covering the lower half of the wall. A few more transfigurations took advantage of the spiders that were rather prominent in the closet to create a bed, a small chest for clothing, and a few other odds and ends that might be needed in a bedroom. The few items that had been in the closet were swept up into a free-standing cupboard and he slid his wand back into his sleeve before turning to Mrs. Dursley and beaming at her.

"There we are. Space all taken care of, I believe." The woman's eyes were bulging now and he decided he certainly needed to send someone to look her and the others in the house over. Particularly after his next words caused her to start choking, not unlike Harry had earlier. "No need to thank me, but I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention the Extension Charms to the Ministry for awhile yet. I'll need to backdate the forms, but I'm sure we can get all of this on the up and up quite soon."

Casting back, he recalled the other item she had mentioned was money. Not atypical nor unwarranted he supposed. "I would think that the allowance you receive for Harry should be sufficient for Guinevere as well, but I suppose it could be supplemented. Hogwarts certainly owes something to Miss Lyonesse."

Harry surged up, staring at Petunia with wide eyes and pointed accusingly as he opened his mouth. This time he had to deal with being interrupted, however, as Petunia exclaimed, "We never! I should certainly know of an allowance if we received one."

"Really? Perhaps your husband hasn't informed you?"

Petunia very nearly hissed herself and he wondered absently if perhaps Harry's Parseltongue wasn't partially hereditary after all. "I should think not! Vernon and I share everything. I would certainly have heard about checks for the boy's room and board." She continued muttering to herself afterwards and he thought he caught parts of it. "...certainly be hearing less... cost of food... schooling."

Dumbledore frowned. It did appear that there was some confusion here. He wasn't sure what the checks mentioned were. "Well, I am fairly certain that the Ministry said that the stipend for Harry being your ward would be deposited into your Gringott's account."

"Our what?" Petunia stopped yelling, looking puzzled. "Why does that sound so familiar..."

Harry by this point was looking beyond confused, and spoke up. "Why would Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon have an account with the goblins?"

"That's it!" Petunia pointed at Harry, her voice holding a note of triumph, no doubt acquiring the memory for which she had been searching. He was unfortunately familiar with the satisfaction that came from chasing down an elusive thought. As much as he would like to claim a perfect memory, he couldn't do so in good faith. Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to the mistress of the house as she continued. "We wouldn't let the boy's father make fun of us with that poppycock about goblins and gold, we'll certainly not allow you to do so!"

"Madam, are you telling me that you are not aware of your own Gringott's account?" Dumbledore watched and listened with some bemusement as the young woman continued to protest and argue about the reality of the Wizarding bank with her nephew jumping in to try and prove it until the boy finally stopped the whole thing by rooting around in the trunk he had left by the door and pulling out a handful of change- a few galleons, perhaps a dozen sickles, and some knuts.

It was at this point that the door rattled for a moment, then swung open, actually hitting young Guinevere and forcing her back a step. "Sorry there, Dudders, didn't know you... were..." Vernon Dursley trailed off as paused in the doorway, taking in his wife, Harry, and Dumbledore himself standing near the door. Voice hardening, the large man started to purple as he spoke up again, "What are you doing in my home? What is the boy doing here again, I thought we didn't need to pick him up."

"Yes, because I was dropping him and young Guinevere here off myself. I thought to save you a trip. I was in fact, just about to leave." He cast a quick Tempus Charm and nodded to himself. He was certainly running late for his next meeting, this would need to be wrapped up shortly. The ambassador of Bolivia was not a patient man and he needed his support for an upcoming bill in the Wizengamot.

"Young who?"

Harry, who had rushed over to his new friend when she was jostled by the door, gulped and said, "Ahh, Guinevere, Uncle Vernon." He pushed the girl out in front of himself slightly, but kept his hands firmly on her shoulders in support. The girl herself waved with a bright smile on her face.

Dumbledore smiled himself at that and added, "We were just discussing what would be required for her to stay with young Harry here." Petunia wilted slightly as Vernon gave her a hard stare, but before she could protest, he added, "We were just discussing the possibility of increasing the allowance you receive for Harry in fact."

"The what?" Vernon appeared as distracted by this as his wife and Dumbledore endeavored to explain the concept of Gringott's Wizarding Bank to the man as succinctly as possible. When the wizard had finally finished though, with no few interruptions, the man finally appeared to be calming down slightly and was less red than he had started, he said. "So this goblin whatsit actually exists? The boy's father wrote a supposed apology... I tore it up afterwards, started out okay, but he mentioned opening an account for us. Belated wedding present of 50 ships of the line or something, which was obviously just mocking-" He stopped, eyes bulging as Harry held up a galleon.

The boy grinned. "Maybe 50 galleons?"

"Where did you steal that, boy?"

"I didn't steal anything, it's from my vault. At Gringott's." He smirked and held it out to Vernon fearlessly, despite the increasing flush to the man's face at the expression. Still, he didn't stop at snatching the coin out of Harry's hand and examining it closely.

Vernon's hand almost shook as he held the coin, noted its weight and looked up at the rest of those in the room. Dumbledore thought the man looked a bit calculating as he looked from the coin, back to Harry and Guinevere and then back to the coin. "How many of these did you say we'll get as an allowance?"

"I believe you receive 10 galleons a week for Harry, half as much again for Guinevere seems fair enough. 15 galleons a week while the pair of them are staying at Number 4 Privet Drive." While not a tremendous amount of money, it should certainly help to defray the costs for the family.

Vernon took a moment, his lips moving and occasionally folding over a finger. When he looked up, his face was almost eager, quite possibly the most positive emotion he had seen on the man's face since he walked through the door. "We'll do it!"

Petunia gaped at this exclamation, but Dumbledore decided it was time to leave before more questions came up. He really was running quite late. Nodding slightly, he gave Harry and Guinevere one last smile, then said, "In that case, I will see you at the beginning of the school year, Harry. Guinevere." Turning on his heels, he Apparated, leaving the somewhat eclectic family to sort things out on their own. He had a Time Turner to borrow from Saul if he wanted to make his meeting. One more bit of paperwork to be done after the fact, but Harry's safety was worth it.


End file.
